ROH_DC_Resource_Book_2018-19_MR

STAGE 1
DISCOVER THE PIECE
Use the activities in this section to explore the repertoire for this
year’s Design Challenge. Your students will visually respond to
the music, learn about the story and research relevant artists.
ACTIVITY 2: Draw to Music
Choose a piece of music from Romeo and
Juliet. Click here. With a drawing pencil and
paper, ask the students to respond to the
music on the page. Their response should be
abstract, not figurative. Where is their starting
point? How do their pencil strokes change?
Why? After a couple of minutes, stop the
music and ask:
l How did the music make them feel? What
could be happening? Ask them to talk about
the marks they have made on their paper. Pick
a few to share, and then ask them to discuss
what they have produced in pairs.
They can work straight into their portfolio and
can add annotations if they choose to. Now
that they understand the concept of visually
responding to the music, repeat the exercise
with one or two more clips. You might wish to
do this with a piece of music from each act of
the piece. Students continue to make marks
with chalk, paint, crayons, charcoal, pencils.
Keep reminding them that their work doesn’t
need to be neat or pretty. Whatever media
they are using, they need to stay true to the
music.
ACTIVITY 3: Discussing the
themes of Romeo and Juliet
Give out the synopsis of Macmillan’s Romeo
and Juliet and ask the students to discuss
in groups what they think the themes of the
story are? Which of the themes do they most
relate to? Why? If you have time, you might
want to lead a visual response to some of
these themes in their portfolio.
Minimum suggested time: 90 minutes
Royal Opera House: Design Challenge 2018/19 (Secondary)
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