Here is our latest Clubs timetable.
Year 11 students will be completing their first ‘Big Write’ during their English lesson tomorrow. The initiative is designed to build confidence for their upcoming exams. Here is a link to their preparatory homework.
A small group of singers from Mullion joined a host of others for an incredible musical experience at The Royal Albert Hall in London.
A big thanks to the staff and students of the Performing Arts Team
The Christmas “spirit” was definitely offered in Mullion School’s unique version “A Christmas Carol”.
The Performing Arts team took Dicken’s familiar tale then found a way to weave musical and dance set pieces into it. While the audiences loved these moments of delight, none of it was more than a nuisance to Robbie Thurston’s wonderfully miserable Scrooge. We did of course witness his transformation into the life and soul of the party as he ended the evening encouraging us all to join in with Oh Come All Ye Faithful.
The first half of the show offered performances that came from both classwork and clubs. We had three different band line ups playing “Someday”, “Valerie” and “Seven Nation Army”. The choir performed “Seasons of Love” from “Rent” and a drama group performed the Christmas Truce scene from “Oh What a Lovely War”. We were seeing new year 7 faces with all their enthusiasm and potential alongside the accomplishments of older students.
A Christmas Carol was the second half of the evening and we knew we were in for a treat as a Victorian London scene came to life complete with street urchins, buskers, do gooders, snowballers and the epitome of misery, Scrooge. It was a familiar tale delightfully told with direction and choreography from TeeJ Randall and the musical interludes led by Amanda Bradley-Metcalf and Ross Hamilton. Martin Wren managed the set construction, lighting and sound.
We loved the whole cast, the dancers, the choir and the musicians but alongside Robbie’s exceptional work as Scrooge, it was a delight to see young Frieda’s version of the Spirit of Christmas Past contrasting with Scarlett’s of Christmas Present. There was a beautiful dance duet, from Maya and Robbie, as Scrooge was shown he had once known love and a whole series of cameo roles, both comic and earnest. We had a solo performance from Daisy, a duet from Rosenwyn and Matilda, a trio from Sophie, Ava and Charlie, the excellent brass band and a boomwhacker rendition of Jingle Bells from the percussion ensemble.
Thank you for all the efforts you made to give us something to enjoy. You can all be very proud of what you achieved, just as we are of you.
Many thanks for your commitment through the rehearsal process and the final week of the Christmas Show.
Thirteen year ten and eleven BTEC Dance students travelled to Plymouth to see a production of ‘Edward Scissorhands’ choreographed by Matthew Bourne. The year eleven students had been studying his work for some months and year 10 are due to begin their research soon.
Based on the well known Jonny Depp film, this production faithfully referred to the iconic imagery and storyline of the original movie. As the curtains opened, the magical music conjured a feeling of haunting beauty. With our fifth row seats we were able to really appreciate the detail of the choreography, costumes and set design, along with the impeccable technique of the dancers.
The dancer playing the character of Edward was incredibly impressive executing challenging balletic and acrobatic movement whilst negotiating his multi bladed hands. The wonderful thing about a Bourne piece is the way he delivers fun, wit, pathos and charm into every scene. With 24 dancers onstage at times, it was often difficult to know where to look. Several students said they would need to see it again to appreciate everything. It was my second time and it felt just as fresh and entertaining as the first. A standing ovation from the whole auditorium seemed an appropriate end to a perfect show.
In the interval there was a rumour that Matthew Bourne was in the auditorium and only a few seats away from us. After the show, the students were wondering if we might see him. We decided to go to the stage door and Ava volunteered to ask if he was around. A minute later we were standing as a group having a photo taken with him. I explained were we were from and that the students felt like they had spent most of the year studying him. He said ‘ They probably know more about me than I do!’
A very memorable day for the students. For three of them it was their first visit to a theatre. For others their first experience of seeing live dance on a professional stage. As always, it was a pleasure to be in their company for the day and enjoy sharing an interest that unites us all.
Tee-J Randall
Below are some reviews from some year 10 students:
I thought Matthew Bourne’s interpretation of Edward Scissorhands was really good. I was left shocked at how good it was. He is a very nice person and we were lucky enough to have taken a photo with him. The dancers did an amazing performance they should be extremely proud.
I loved the dance trip to Plymouth , watching Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands. The show was spectacular and was amazing watching dancers perform moves and choreography inspired by dancers/choreographers we have learnt about.
The trip was so much fun, it was really nice to spend time with all the Dance students. The performance was absolutely amazing, it was my first time watching a whole dance piece live and I definitely picked the right show to start with, it was fantastic!!
Last week, our students were lucky enough to be involved in some research and development for a future performance to be performed in Helston. The project director Kyra Norman Tonks is a local Dance practitioner and teacher who has drawn together a team of highly skilled experts in dance , sound design, costume design and film making. Their project aims to create a performance piece which is uniquely tied to the Lizard area, it’s geography, physical spaces, natural resources and soundscapes.
Students from all years were offered the opportunity to take part in a couple of workshops with some of those experts who were keen to explore some of their ideas with young people from the LIzard to see if they could bring any new thoughts and inventions to the areas of exploration.
The first workshop was with Shirley Pegna, a sound artist. She brought with her some of the equipment she has used to listen to the natural ambient sounds of various locations. Students really enjoyed probing into the cracks between the paving slabs and walls to hear the sounds the very fabric of the school made. In the final piece there are plans for her to be mixing her found sounds live.
Next there was a workshop in dance and costume design. Producer Liz Howell talked the students through some of the approaches to designing for dance, pointing out the need for freedom of movement as well as striking designs that compliment the creative intentions of the piece. They shared with us some close up images of the local granite which had a surprising array of colours from purple to saffron yellow. Old recycled tents provided the materials for some experimenting and it was interesting to note that the colours of many tents echo the colour palette of the local granite.
The dancers worked with 2 practitioners, Winona Guy and ex Mullion student Talia Sealey. Talia recently graduated from London Contemporary Dance School, a dance conservatoire, and is now working freelance in Cornwall. It was great to have her back in school working with our students. Additionally, it was wonderful for our students to see that an ex-student had pursued her interests and abilities in Dance through college and university, now able to return to Cornwall as a professional dancer.
The company now moves forward towards a 3 week intensive period of developing the work to it’s final form.
The piece is due to be performed in Helston on Saturday November 18th, 2pm (relaxed performance) and 7pm at Epworth Hall, Coineage Street, Helston.
Tickets are free but require booking via Eventbright. All student participants have been offered a ticket to the 2pm Show.
Follow link for tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/deep-time-moving-performance-2pm-tickets-728269001187?aff=erelexpmlt
For more information visit their website at Deep Time Moving
We would like to send Florence our congratulations on being selected for the U14 County Hockey Squad this year. We wish her all the best in her sporting endeavours.