Victorian Principal’s Association Conference
In October eighteen students headed off to perform at the VPA conference at the Pullman Hotel. In front of hundreds of principals and teachers we danced in a limited space. Twelve students from the Star and Crystal Dance Troupes performed, ‘Heal the World’. Six students from the Diamond Dance Troupe performed, ‘When You Believe’. It was a great experience for all of us.
Towa Watanabe
Arts Captain
Whitehorse Spring Festival Performance
On Sunday 18th October the Whitehorse Spring Festival was held at the Whitehorse Civic Centre, Nunawading.
Students from Glee A, Glee B, Junior Glee, Boys Dance and the Sparkle, Star, Diamond and Sapphire Dance Troupes performed on the main stage and blew the audience away.
All the students were on their best behaviour and represented our school proudly.
Thank-you to Mrs Wood, Mrs Fahey, Ms Crystal, Mrs Volz, Mr Miet, Mrs Wuttke, Miss Whitelaw and Mrs Whiteoak for their help on the day!
Also thank-you to all the students and parents that came to support the school.
Mikayla Wiles
Victorian State Schools Spectacular 2015
Twenty students, from Grades Three to Six, represented our school in the Victorian State Schools Spectacular, on Saturday 12th September, at Hisense Arena.
The process began in February with students completing an audition and an application to be part of mass dance. Students then attended four regional rehearsals at a local primary school as well as having weekly rehearsals at school. The students then had two full days of rehearsals at Hisense Arena, before culminating in two shows on Saturday 12th September.
Our dancers were enthusiastic and respectful in all rehearsals, which made them a pleasure to work with. Their enthusiasm and commitment really showed in their outstanding performance on Saturday. Congratulations to all the students who performed and thank-you for all your hard work.
Thank-you to Mrs Josephine Nash, Mrs Tomoko Watanabe, Ms Barbara Moro and Mrs Julie Pratt for helping drive students to rehearsals and to Mrs Stella Hewson and Mrs Vicki Fahey for organising the fundraising for the bus trips. Thank-you to Miss Rachael Webb and Mr Julien Miet for working with the students in all the rehearsals and supervising back stage and thanks also to Mrs Rebekah Volz for assisting with supervision on the performance day.
Dance Fair Victoria Choreographic Competition
Each year students in Grade Five and Six have the opportunity to enter the Dance Fair Victoria Choreographic Competition. We are able to enter two solos, two duos and two teams for both Grade Five and Grade Six. We are also able to enter one Troupe that can consist of students from both Grade Five and Six.
All the students were well prepared having put in many hours choreographing and rehearsing their dances for the competition. Working as a group to create and rehearse their own dance pieces required the students to listen to each other, provide and accept feedback, negotiate and solve problems. It was wonderful to see all students involved contribute their ideas.
On Saturday 2nd May, eighteen students competed in Dance Fair Victoria’s Choreographic Competition. The students performed confidently and enthusiastically in front of a large crowd, made up of their families and friends, including many past students. It was lovely to see the students encouraging their competitors and being very respectful back stage.
On Saturday 30th May, four Grade Five students competed in the solo and duo sections. While there were lots of nerves back stage, once the girls hit the stage they were true performers and they all danced beautifully. Just before the night came to a close all the points from both the Grade Five and Grade Six competition nights were tallied and we were excited to hear them announce that Burwood Heights Primary School was the overall Primary School Champions for 2015!
A special congratulations to the students who were awarded places:
Grade 5 Solo 1st Place - Amelie
Grade 6 Solo 3rd Place – Mikayla
Grade 5 Duo 1st Place – Belinda and Amelie
Grade 5 Duo 2nd Place – Isabella and Kristy
Grade 6 Duo 1st Place – Ashleigh and Paige
Grade 6 Team 2nd Place – Maddie, Towa, Zoe, Samantha, Paige, Ashleigh & Mikayla
Grade 5/6 Troupe 2nd Place – Kieren, Eva, Lesedi, Zoe, Samantha, Paige, Maddie, Towa, Mikayla, Ayaka, Keeana & Rachael
Choreography Club will begin in August after the School Production. I highly recommend this club for students in Grade Four who are interested in competing at Dance Fair next year.