Recently, Wind, Fire, Earth and Water came alive for our Year 3 students. Stepping into the spirit of their House elements, students rotated through 3 sessions of music, dance and art, each group taking its own path through the day, all in an effort to build a deeper connection to culture and to explore how sound, movement and image can work together to tell a story.
In the music session, led by composer in residence Harry Straulig, each House group created rhythms, vocal sounds and instrumental textures to express the character of their element. The Bamal group built steady grounded beats while the Baado group found a rolling gentle rhythm.
In the dance session, students worked with Peter Straughen and Nathan Leslie, two First Nations dancers who led the movement work. Each group developed a movement sequence to communicate the energy of their element – quick and sweeping for Gura, rising and sudden for Kuyal, strong and grounded for Bamal and smooth and flowing for Baado.
In the art session, led by Aunty B, students used charcoal and ochre to explore colour, line, texture and symbolic mark-making to represent their element. These artworks helped inspire the music and movement created in the other sessions.
Depending on where each group landed in the rotation, students also had a session for creative integration. Some groups used this time to continue working on their artistic projects while others used it for downtime and reflection.
By the end of the day, once every group had rotated through all 4 sessions, the students had a deeper understanding of Gura, Kuyal, Bamal and Baado through sound, movement and image, gaining an appreciation for how music, dance and art can work together to express culture and meaning.
