Raha does Shakespeare!

So it’s time for week two of our blog.  If the weeks keep flying by like this, our auditorium will be up and ready in no time. (Picture dated Jan 27th 2016)

We have had a heavy Shakespeare influence in school since writing the last blog,  with the Grade 6-9 theatre trip to Dubai to watch ‘Romeo and Juliet’.  Due to other commitments I was unable to attend but I hear it was a great production and a great benefit to the students and their English Studies.  The Great Bard’s work also popped in to the Drama Department with a visiting ‘Artist in Residence’ Lizzie Conrad Hughes from London.  She delivered a Shakespeare workshop to grade 10 -12 Drama students to enlighten them in the techniques to read, understand and perform his work.

In the words of our Head of English Andrew Tomlinson "On Wednesday, 20th January, three hundred Grade 6, 7 and 8 students ventured to Dubai to take in Shakespeare4Kidz latest production: Romeo and Juliet. As usual, the Shakespeare4Kidz team turned Shakespeare's play on its head and this was a rock n roll bonanza! Set in 1950s Verona, the cast cavorted, crooned and crazily boogied through the two-hour traffic of Shakespeare's play. It wasn't just tragedy, however, as Peter had us rolling in the aisles from start to finish!

Overall, a great day out was had by all. The students were able to experience live drama and it reinforced their understanding of the plays they are studying in English."

Elsewhere we have successfully launched new arts ECPs in PYP Drama and Cross-cultural story-telling and Drama, Zumba@kids and Yoga  as well as the continuation of the ever popular Senior Choir, Band.

The auditorium is growing day by day and is becoming an impressive sight as you drive past Raha.  It will be even more impressive once we can begin advertising the events we will be hosting.

We have had a tragic start to the year in the arts world with the sad loss of musicians David Bowie and Glenn Frey and the very talented actor Alan Rickman. They all achieved great things in their too short lives and leave us with great many memories.  So as I promised to end every blog with famous quotes, I can think of no better words to close with than those of these great artists.

“Tomorrow comes to those who can hear it coming” – David Bowie 1947 – 2016

“Acting touches nerves you have absolutely no control over”  - Alan Rickman 1946 -2016 

“If only life could be a little more tender and art a little more robust” – Alan Rickman 1946-2016

“I’ve read somewhere that when you’re writing you should stop while you are doing well so you always want to get back to work”   Glenn Frey 1948 – 2016

Until next time……..                  

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Look How Far We Have Come In Such a Short Time!!!!

Laying the foundation for a great future at Raha
End of October 2015

..............And More Foundations
November 9th 2015

What more foundations? ... Well at least we know it is secure!
November 19th 2015

The only way is up
December 6th 2015

Standing Tall. You can now clearly see the Black-box theatre at the top
January 12th 2016

A Warm Welcome To The Grand Opening of the Raha Arts Blog

"Ladies and Gentleman, Girls and Boys, welcome to the Grand Opening of the Raha Arts Blog"  May I introduce myself, My name is Javier Hernandez Stalder and I am the Director of Arts for RIS.  My purpose for launching this blog is to keep you all up to date with the exciting  development which is the new school auditorium as well as weekly updates on all School Arts Activities. This blog is intended to keep you bang up to date with progress of the construction, installation of fixtures and fittings and  the program of events, for both the inauguration of the building and for the coming year.

This new building will bring a new exciting space and opportunity for new experiences within arts for the whole school from early years to the graduation ceremony for our Diploma Students. .  This blog is designed to keep your fingers on the pulse of what is to come, such as the internal and external events, workshops, recitals, concerts exhibitions and performances.  The Space will also become a regular host for  UAE cultural events and Al Raha Gardens local community events and groups out of school hours.

               

With this impressive extension to facilities with state of the art equipment we will be able to deliver full music and theatre performances with the students taking an active role in the production side of the event as well as the performing.. It will also allow us to launch a much more extensive range of ECP's to cover such activities as Theatre Make Up, Technical Theatre and Music Production. 

This blog will allow me as the Director of Arts to give you weekly updates and photos to show the advancements of the building process and to announce upcoming events and activities. Also it provides an easy link for people to post questions, queries and suggestions.  Should any of our readers which to contact me please email me at Jstalder@ris.ae

One final point before I sign off until next time.  As this auditorium is located in an educational establishment I thought this blog would be a good opportunity to educate you each week with a little fact from the arts world. So here is quote number one.

#1  So bye for now and remember "All the world's a stage and all the men and women are merely players. They have their exits and their entrances" William Shakespeare