I write this is short blog early Saturday morning of the 18th June. It was for us a very difficult and emotionally stressful week. As a teacher it upset me greatly and this new sense of discord permeated my days. Who is ever right in these kinds of situations??? But my DRAMA students of yesterday gave me a precious and therefore healing hour and a half. They are not insensitive to the underlying disappointment of realities within my demeanour. Each one who attended the class gave moments of true inspiration.
Cara…..how beautifully you recited the Afrikaans poem ‘Kersfees Brief’. You touched my heart. This came from the core of your being and I felt the terminally ill child ask for more time to set things right for those she loves before she reaches her own finality. Only one other student has had the ability to move an audience in such a way….Chené with her poem ‘Ballade van ‘n straatkind’. Your reading of ”n rokkie beter as die een’…just the right amount of innuendo and verbal nuances. Your rendition of ‘Tandpyn’….near brillant transition of teachers and students voices. I swear for a few moments I also had pain!!!! Cara..you have found your niche and hopefully your future.
Monique…..your rendition of the poem ‘Mama’….I was moved. Your understanding and questioning of the key issue in the poem was touching without being emotional. You achieved the same with ‘Kersfees Brief’. While Cara’s rendition of the poem was heartbreaking yours had courage …sincerity….that the child accepted her Fate. You are reading a very difficult English prose…and you are achieving it with aplomb. Your reading of ‘Jakkals’…..full of light repartee and humour. I see your Jakkals’ (wolf) dressed in a natty blue check outfit while Nadia’s wolf is robust and probably without clothes at all!!!
Nadia…oh! No one will ever be able to say ‘Loose Tooth’ as you do….and your handling of the poem ‘Mr nobody’ which is difficult at best and in form and style a bit archaic…but you have it nailed down to perfection. ‘Jakkals’ what smooth transition of the voice with the characters in the piece….I could clearly see the scene. ‘Greedy King’… That king is fortunate that he did not meet you at the end of the story! This story is from African folklore and you handle it with true African spirit…fortitude and no nonsense.!!!Just as you handle the poem ‘Tandpyn’… a Teachers voice if ever there was one!!
Nelmarie….you are not one of my Dance students…and if the Truth be told you must have found it very difficult to adjust to the way we do things in the school. You must have also found it challenging to adapt to me as a teacher and there were days in which I despaired of the whole process BUT you have suddenly understood….and you have improved more than 100%. You are saying ‘Bazonka’ without a mistake and as though your really do believe in the word. You are beginning to understand what DRAMA can bring to your life.
Chante..although you are not doing RACA you nevertheless brought something special to the class yesterday. Who will ever be able to say ‘The aliens have landed’ and alliterate the words ‘distressing’ and ‘exudes the stench of foods’ quite like you do. You have mastered the closing line with nonchalant chic like no one else. Yes Chante…we have walked through many episodes you and I but there can be no doubt that DRAMA (in the words of a famous song) lifts you up where you belong.
Thankyou girls…you restored a balance I was so desperately needing yesterday. Later in the dressing room it brought me to a sense of grateful reflection how you speak and greet your seniors who are mentoring you. I watched their gentle handling of you all and I was enormously proud….most especially of what Cara and her senior Michaela share. How blessed a day is in which there is peace and harmony.
Namasté my students. As long as we have the music, the words, the movement…we have a moments paradise.
TerraFides 