SB Talent Showcase

Our acrobatics during afternoon rehearsal.

At SB, volunteers are in charge of nearly ALL of the arts and extra curriculars -- everything ranging from vocal and instrumental music and theatre to visual arts, yoga, and dance. (On occassion, other things are tossed in there too -- martial arts, juggling, magic, circus arts, and so on.) And, every few months or so, the volunteers organize some sort of showcase, talent show, or performance for the school.

Yesterday was one such event, and the last for this term and the school year. Of the 2 OSAs and 7 volunteers left on campus, all but two (who were busy with other aspects of school life) were involved in the show either as performers or as teachers of performers.

The third graders shared content from their classes. They sang "Old MacDonald" in German and presented a performance of "Seize the Day" from Newsies which they'd learned in their Theatre class.

Satish performing during the show.

Beginning piano, guitar, and harmonica students shared their progress -- including two of my piano students: fourth grader Sathish played two pieces and fifth grader Thulasi and I played a duet.

All of the dance students (an option the kids may choose during PT (physical time)) performed, sharing a wide variety of dances.

Jugglers juggled. Kids with balancing skills did balancing tricks.  Students ranging from fourth through eleventh grades shared hand to hand acrobatics they'd learned with Alex, our volunteer trained in circus arts. (Yes, it was awesome!)

Katy's spoon trick

And other random acts were thrown in -- Katy balanced four spoons on her face (which ever kid then tried to do at dinner), Komal and I worked with a group of six fifth grade girls to do a performance with cups (which made the girls rockstars as classmates begged to be shown how to do it). (To give you an idea, the girls in this video work with the same basic "cup trick" our girls did.)

It was a really fun evening. The crowd was enthusiastic.  The performers did stupendously.  And the school has a happy time together (before a delicious dinner).  In addition, it was Wishu, the Maliali New Year, and the last full day before our tenth and twelfth graders went home for break.  Good times!

This video is of the final dance number -- a medley of dances the kids learned with Lori. Check it out. These are kids ranging from fourth through twelfth grades.
(2012.06.08)

B-ball and chicken curry

This weekend (February 19) included some happy festivities on the SB campus. Sadly, we have four volunteers for whom this is their last full weekend with us. Come next Saturday they will be departing from the SB campus for continued adventures elsewhere. As a bit of a final hoorah, Saibhang organized a basketball tournament – volunteers against students. Enough students wanted to participate that we had to host three games, coed divided by grade level. Most of the school – students, aunties, teachers, volunteers, and administrators – turned up for the big event. Between doing the wave, cheering for the participants, and enjoying the beautiful weather of a late-afternoon summer day, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

In addition, Saibhang sponsored a special dinner for the school in honor of the tournament winners (the students). To sponsor a dinner or a snack means to pay for it, which makes it possible to eat something a little more extravagant or costly on special occasions. Tonight’s dinner included chicken curry (with a lovely veg option for our local vegetarians and vegans), naan, and poori. For most meals, chapati is available for teachers, but both naan and poori are fancier (and super delicious, though I enjoy chapatti too). And, Darius (one of our On-Site Administrators) sponsored an ice cream dessert to top off the already delicious meal. We had the choice of strawberry or chocolate (or both). Super delicious.

So, it was a glorious afternoon and evening of good sports games, good food, and good friends. Fantastic!