Message from Steve Brady, Headteacher - Forest Hill School

FHS Issue 12 17/6/09 13:34 Page 3
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dance
music
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Images from the Black Pupils’ Achievement
Programme Celebration Evening 30th April and the
Royal Ballet Partnership Project with Sydenham
School Dec 08 - May 09
Where were you in the 80s?
Remembering the fashion, the fads, and
the music of the 80s brings fond (but
cringeworthy) memories for most. The Year
10 Music BTEC Performance group has
added some of the fondest 80s memories
so far. As part of their coursework students
hosted an 80s themed evening in the Ken
Kirkby Theatre. They not only had to prepare
an evening of 80s anthems but also had the
task of planning the whole event, from
promotion to costumes to stage design.
Work on the project started back in
December 2008 and since then there has
been a buzz of energy and excitement in
the Music Department. The students spent
time researching music, fashion and culture
and combined all of these elements into an
90 minute show that wowed a packed
theatre audience. Performances included
songs by The Clash, The Smiths, Michael
Jackson, and Simply Red as well as many
other popular 80’s artists. The DVD will be
on sale soon so watch this space for
details. Well done Year 10!
Ms S Vine Music Teacher
Art Moves
For the last 5-6 months a group of Year 9
boys and girls from Forest Hill School
and Sydenham School have been working
with Year 10 students from the Royal Ballet
School and the National Gallery on an
amazing project that was performed in front
of hundreds of people at the world
renowned White Lodge (the lower part of the
Royal Ballet School). While the dance was
being made a group of boys and girls were
making sculptures with the National Gallery
(which are to be displayed there). These
sculptures represented some of the shapes
used in the dance and shapes that were
featured in the paintings displayed at the
National Gallery by Michaelangelo.
The project was hard, but very enjoyable
work. Probably one of the best parts in the
project was Bim (Bim Malcomson
choreographed the dance). She was
fantastic and made it as fun as possible –
there is no other word to describe her, other
than crazy. Despite being very funny she
made sure that the dance came together on
time. After many months it was time to
perform. Not only did we do the piece that
Bim had choreographed, we also got the
chance to show other dances from our
schools. Some of FHS’s Year 9 boys showed
a piece choreographed by Mr Oudkerk and
the boys, based on the story of the Down
and Outs in Bugsy Malone with a hip hop
twist! We also had a stunning contemporary
dance by Troy O’Connor in Year 11. There
were also three other great pieces from
Sydenham and three from the Royal Ballet
School. After the last performance we were
given news that we would be performing in
front of Prince Charles and meeting him.
Only a handful of us from the 50 that had
done the project could do it which was very
unfortunate as it was a brilliant night!
After that it was the last day of the project
and we had to evaluate. This was a very sad
day, as everyone was starting to bond really
well. We even considered hiding in the toilets
so that we wouldn’t have to leave, but we
got caught! Now we have made new friends
and had a fantastic experience that will last
us for the rest of our lives!!
Joelle Lecky Year 9 participant
NB: A massive thank you to the wonderful
work of the Education Department at the
Royal Ballet School; Jay Jolley, Ginny Brown,
Alex Leonard, Carol Pakri and especially Bim
Malcomson for choreography, direction and
vision.
Mr Oudkerk Head of Dance & Mr Jewell
Dance Teacher
New Recording Studio
Exciting things are happening in the music
department – we now have a
professional recording studio, which is
available for use by all students. At the core
is a Mac Pro, pretty much the fastest
computer on the planet, and we’re running
Pro Tools and Logic Studio, the top choices
for sound engineers all over the world.
I had a test session with Miles Peckover.
He put down a great acoustic track with
piano, guitar and voice. Then came the real
test: a full band recording with a very
talented bunch of musicians from Year 9,
Dylan Chapman, Ellis Mizen, Cameron
Pickard, Perry Ward, George Wood and
Toby Quast. They were all really pleased
with the result and weren’t the only ones
who had a good time – I absolutely loved it!
So, for all you budding artistes out there,
come and see what the Paul Thomas
Recording Studio can do for you and your
music.
Phil Simpson Performing Arts Technician