We had an amazing Year End Performance 2019. Once more again our students and teachers all have proved and showed how talented they are.
So let’s get back on track to the preparation on the day of the event. We have been “principled” enough! With folded up corrugated cardboard props on a bus, we travelled class by class to the theatre at different times to avoid crowded conditions and to accommodate the classes intermittently. This transportation methodology allowed some groups to get a little extra practice at the hall while others finished up what they needed to do such as portfolios and assessment folders at school.
Year End Performance was our best yet in my estimation. We tried some things differently and let our younger 3rd and 4th Grade students be the masters of ceremony and it worked out. The curtains opened with French Gavotte ballet and finished with hip hop. That is how diverse we are. Guitar After School Program played “Country Road” and I noticed that they have advanced into capos now! One classic moment was when Preschool appeared in shark suits and sang “Baby Shark.” I didn’t know that sharks were that cute! 3rd Grade’s new TV version of The Jackson 5’s “ABC, Easy as 1, 2, 3” brought the house down. Their teacher, who was a theatre major, acted, danced and was the overall director for the entire show.
Another big moment came when Grade 4 sang original lyrics and reenacted Newton’s cradle with osculating balls. For every force, there is an opposite force! I liked Grade 5’s Alice in Wonderland when the Mad Hatter pulled a table cloth off a table and the teacups remained flat. This group must have made a connection to science and the PYP along with Grade 2’s “The Great Kapok Tree” and 1st Grade’s “Earth- We Are in this Together!”
I can’t forget Kindergarten wearing hand-drawn t-shirts with all their faces on it as a costume and singing “Count on Me.” The Upper Japanese classes sang a lively NHK tune which was great choreography called “Papurika.” For some reason, that tune “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” keeps going through my head. Thank you Pre-K and a big “thank you” goes to our Shinagawa International School staff, parents and teachers for their gallant efforts.