By Tyler Wright
After performing in heats at the Frankston Arts Centre on Thursday 25 August, Mount Dandenong Primary School has made it into the final Showcase in the national dance storytelling event Wakakirri.
“It was a massive day…[the students] loved every moment of watching all the other schools and really enjoyed the atmosphere,” Mount Dandenong Primary School Wakakirri teacher Jody Howell said.
“Then getting on stage themselves just blew their little minds. I think they were really excited.”
Jody said eight other schools participated in the heats, including Mooroolbark College, Balnarring Primary School and Narre Warren South P-12 College.
“We set ourselves up on the stage for the first run through which was good, but then the second run through was even better; so it was really nice to have that time to familiarise themselves with the stage,” Jody said.
“In the afternoon, the organisers came and gave us the running order for the evening, and we were on first… it was a little scary for them that they were first up but but I think actually it was a really good thing.
We had three little speakers that spoke after our performance that stood up the front and spoke to a massive audience and they did a really good job as well.”
Mount Dandenong Primary School children performed ‘Everybody’s Free;’ a story of isolated children who venture out of their homes and attempt to help caged animals at the zoo run free.
The students were also able to learn from stories told through dance from other schools.
“There was one school [who] did a performance on the bushfires, and they really liked watching that one; I think they could understand the concept,” Jody said.
“There was another primary school that did theirs about lockdown as well, and it was interesting how they told the story through going shopping; and that you couldn’t get toilet paper and [other items], it was a really interesting way of telling the story.”
Mount Dandenong Primary School was given the award of ‘Best re-use of costumes’ on the evening and was commended for excellent performance in teamwork, excellent set movement and staging, excellent soundtrack mix, excellent theme concept and amazing lighting.
On Tuesday 30 August, it was revealed the students were chosen to appear in the Showcase finals at The Clocktower Centre in Moonee Ponds on Monday 5 September.
The school was nominated for the national award under the category of an animal welfare story.
“I like the sound of [the awards] because it’s not just in one particular area,” Jody said,
“To have something like set movement in staging, teamwork is a big one, theme concepts; we’ve really covered a lot of bases.
I’m really proud of them.”
The last time Mount Dandenong Primary School made the Wakakirri Showcase was in 2017, with their performance ‘Saving the Bees’.
