Young Performers

You Can’t Stop The Beat!

A staggering 112 members of Dundee Schools Music Theatre (DSMT) made the trip through to Edinburgh to perform 'You Can’t Stop the Beat' - a piece from the musical Hairspray. This was the first performance of the day and certainly encouraged feet to tap, smiles to form and the atmosphere to ease. Their rendition of the song was second to none and was thoroughly well received.

'DSMT were thrilled to bits to be invited to perform at Health at the Heart of Learning. The performers thoroughly enjoyed every second of it and were delighted to be given the opportunity to perform in front of a national audience.'  Lina Waghorn, Head of Primary and Early Years Education

For more information about DSMT please contact Lina Waghorn on 01382 433718

---

Friendship and Emotions

Park Primary, from Stranraer, in partnership with CREATE, were the second group of entertainers to perform on the day. They performed an intricate dance on friendship and emotions. The pupils were from Primary 6 and have been working with Louise Costelloe, Dance Artist in Residence, Creative Educations Arts Team (CREATE). This performance also emphasised the importance of creative activities like dance in encouraging self-confidence, teamwork and physical activity.

'The children were really excited to be asked to this event and worked hard to show how much talent we have in this school.'  Kay Dickson, Headteacher, Park Primary

---

Big Band Perfection!

North Lanarkshire Schools’ Jazz Orchestra ended the day on a high with their big band sound and amazing vocals. Twenty-four members of the orchestra made it through to the conference and delegates were blown away by the perfection of the orchestra's timing, synchronism and mechanism.
'When we received the invitation to perform at a national conference, we were over the moon. Since then, the orchestra has worked extremely hard learning new pieces of music and perfecting more familiar ones.'  Tim Sharp, Orchestra Conductor

---

Promoting resilience in the face of adversity!

Hadhirgaan (an outstanding group of young Scottish musicians from Kirkwall Grammar School in the Orkney Islands) were invited to perform at Health at the Heart of Learning. The music group made their way to Orkney airport the night before, and much to everyone’s dismay, adverse weather conditions prevented them from making their journey. To say that delegates were extremely disappointed is an understatement; people were frustrated that the group had missed the opportunity to visit the mainland and attend the conference and also very upset that they didn’t get the chance to experience Hadhirgaan’s performance as it was one which was very much being looked forward to. However, it turns out that the members of Hadhirgaan made far more than the best out of a bad situation.

'As you will all know by now, we didn’t make it down to the HPS conference in Edinburgh as the weather was not in our favour. We sat all day at the airport in the hope that there would be a break in the weather and we could go. It wasn’t to be - sadly. The girls were very disappointed as they felt they were letting people down and I have to say that their maturity and optimism about even being prepared to fly in such adverse conditions was really touching.

It seemed that nothing went to plan despite all our best efforts: adverse weather, barrier closures and most of us losing signals on our mobile phones. All that kept us going was optimism and then a few tunes from the girls. Lots of people were stranded at the airport and when the girls gave an impromptu performance it really lifted people’s spirits. They were even playing when the Stornoway coastguard helicopter stopped to refuel as it was performing a search of the west coast of Orkney. Quite a memorable welcome for those pilots!

The airport staff could not have been kinder to us and I was really impressed by their concern for our group and the trouble they all went to keep us informed of what was going on. We didn’t get where we wanted to be but the day was far from wasted. I saw in the group a resilience and dedication which made me feel proud to live on this island and be around young people who never once complained or moaned and just went out their way to make the most of a difficult situation. What a credit to their teachers and school these young people were - and to their families. It’s a hard life lesson that we don’t always get what we want and that despite our best efforts we can’t always get to where we need to be, but these young people touched the hearts of many yesterday and so in that way, for me the day was an absolute success.

Thank you to everyone who helped make a difficult situation bearable for all of us affected. A very proud Health Promotion Officer.' Andy Spence-Jones, NHS

Although heart-breaking and unfair, this story, on a brighter note, reinstates one of the underlying themes of Health at the Heart of Learning: that music, and being involved in music, can make fundamental differences to one's spirit, state of mind and emotional wellbeing. Perhaps Hadhirgaan’s fate on the eve of the conference was to lift and ease the spirits of stranded travelers and courageous pilots and airport staff on their very own home ground! Well done Hadhirgaan!

• Email this page
• Print friendly format
• Digg this
• Save to del.icio.us