I enjoy posting about the talents of the people around me, so I am delighted and will enjoy posting a response to one of your questions. Christian asked, ”Do [the students] ever perform in musicals?" Throughout my schooling, we put on a full-length play at least once a year (twice per year in high school) and a full-length musical at least once a year from junior high on. I have fond memories of playing in the pit for the musicals The Sound of Music and Godspell and painful memories of messing up lines and not earning the parts I auditioned for in school plays. These were formative experiences, so I appreciate the arts being an active and key part of secondary and primary education. I have not seen or heard of a school putting on a full play. I have not seen or heard of a school putting on a musical. Theater does exist as I knew it exists: I saw a touring group of young adults put on a full length play (sadly, I can't find the name of it) in my host town and I have gone with colleagues into Moldova's capital, Chișinău, to see performances in national theaters. Students regularly prepare and perform skits for larger concerts/events. But, again, I can't find a school-based full play or musical. That doesn't mean we're lacking for full-length performance events! I have come to deeply appreciate the shows that our students very regularly put on here. I've also noticed a rhythm to them, one that many Volunteers I know have commented on finding in their communities, too. So, through the power of YouTube, below the cut I'm going to put together a virtual show - as it would generally happen at my school or in our local Culture House - hopefully for your enjoyment. Shows start with welcoming words, maybe an opening skit that will introduce a theme woven into the process of introducing different acts. Then begin the acts! I tend to think of the concerts/events as talent shows - a string of students performing their various arts. Let's start with a group dance performance, of which there will likely be many. Here's a traditional Moldovan number. We have traditional dance troupes, like above, and modern dance troupes. Many of the students I work with are involved in both. Here's a group number by some of our girls. And a co-ed modern dance. We can't forget the little ones, can we? What event would be complete without some poetry? From young children through adults, a good show benefits from well-recited poems. Many students study instruments and vocal performance at the Music School. Surely they should perform some pieces for us. Maybe a traditional song. Maybe a pop song. It's about time for some talking - honored guests, local leaders, organizers have some thoughtful things to say to the crowd. This provides the opportunity to praise the talents of those performing, to honor their teachers, to offer wishes of health & happiness to the attendees, and more. Let's get back to dancing! An hour or more in, I might have zoned out a bit, but some surprise will surely pull me back in. If we're lucky, the event will have invited the folk dance troupe from the next village over, Slobozia-Dușca, to perform. They are genuinely my favorite folk performance troupe in Moldova and are primarily high school aged! After a range of dances, songs, performances on instruments, poems, and maybe a skit, it's time to present awards (if there was a competition element), maybe some gifts, and definitely some certificates (I've observed many quietly duck out during this part - we know the show is over, even if not quite yet officially). I hope you enjoyed some of our local talent and got a feel for how concerts/events (as they're called, translating literally) generally go.
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Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
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