Downe House livestreams dance and drama lessons for prep and primary schools
During the lockdown, the Downe House Drama and Dance Department has been livestreaming dance lessons and recording drama lessons for both Infant and Junior pupils at prep schools and local primary schools.
In the first week, over 110 boys and girls from seven local primary schools and fifteen prep schools across the UK joined the livestreamed lessons. The dance lessons were taught by Miss Olivia Ward, the Head of Extra Curricular Dance, who said: ‘I am absolutely delighted to be running such an exciting outreach opportunity for so many children who may not currently be able to access extra-curricular dance lessons. Each workshop is designed to get everyone dancing along to fun, upbeat music from the comfort of their own homes. Parents, guardians and siblings are also encouraged to join in, so the workshops can also act as a fun family activity which everyone can participate in!’
Year 5 pupil at St Finian’s Catholic Primary School, Isla said, ‘Miss Ward made the choreography fun and energetic. I liked the way the routine was broken down to make it easy to follow. I had so much fun and can’t wait until the next session!’
On the drama front, the Drama Scholars at Downe House created a series of four pre-recorded Drama lessons, two for the Infant age group and two for Juniors.
Alice, LVI Geraldine James Drama Scholar, explained: ‘I was excited to be involved in this project because I wanted to do something meaningful for the community and I also love working with my fellow Drama students. My lesson was targeted at Junior pupils in Years 4 to 6 and I used Roald Dahl’s Matilda to teach physical performance skills. After a fun warm-up, I described characters from the book, including Matilda, Miss Trunchbull and Bruce Bogtrotter, and explained how the boys and girls could use their facial expressions, posture, gesture and other skills to bring the character to life. Teaching Drama to younger children was a new experience for me and I hugely enjoyed it.’
If any primary or prep schools would like to join in the Dance and Drama programme for the second half of term, please email boxoffice@downehouse.net
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