What a fabulous three weeks of the new year we have had! Everyone has adapted to the virtual classes brilliantly and on a personal note, we have loved creating the new lesson plans to suit this world and to continue bringing smiles to the faces of our Star Performers.

Introducing visual aids

We strongly believe in using visual aids to spark curiosity and maximise learning retention. We have aimed to bring the story of the musical alive by creating interactive PowerPoint displays for our students to meet the characters and understand the synopsis of the musical.

'The Little Mermaid' drama skills

This month we have been working on the following drama skills:

• Exploration - This is the act of pretending to be somebody else or taking on a role. Introducing these types of activities encourage the students to take turns and share ideas. As others are performing, they are observing their friends, developing fantastic listening skills.
• Improvisation – Some of the characters get themselves into 'sticky situations' so we have used these as the basis of creative improvisation. We find the children respond enthusiastically to these slides as it gives them an opportunity to free their imagination. Improvisation also strengthens script work and will give the students confidence to adlib if they forget their lines.
• Props - These are crucial for story-telling; they complement and motivate the character, helping the student feel more 'the part'and setting the scene. As 'The Little Mermaid', Ariel loves to collect treasure, so we encouraged the students to go and find their own treasure to use within the scene.

Commercial/street dance technique

The commercial/street dance aspect of the lesson has been focused around isolations, a movement which occurs at a body joint to add accent and sharpness to choreography. We have explored these in a Bollywood style which the students have taken to brilliantly.

We have also started a Tik-Tok inspired routine which will be entered for an IDTA commercial award as soon as we are allowed to return to the studio. This routine will be filmed within the students timetabled lesson and then sent to our allocated examiner for marking.

2021 show choreography

We have also started new choreography which is for our 2021 production of 'A Night of Musicals'. This year we will be filming the show in two parts to allow the exam work to continue throughout the calendar year. Filming of the theatre craft routine will take place in June 2021 as we work to create another DVD spectacle. The featured routine within this class will also be entered for an IDTA Musical Theatre Award which we are hoping will be in July. The students will film their exam entry as part of their timetabled lesson which will then be submitted to our allocated examiner.