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Studying
Shakespeare
Studying Shakespeare in
school can seem like a chore for many students but when you
add Northern Ballet Theatre and The Royal Armouries in to
mix, it makes for a very different experience.
Cockburn College of Performing Arts,
Morley High School and Woodkirk High School have already taken
part in a two-day workshop based on NBT’s production
of Romeo & Juliet. They were looking for a flagship workshop
to present to their Gifted
and Talented students and decided to work
in collaboration with NBT and The Royal Armouries.
Peter Nutall, Director of Performing
Arts, Cockburn College of Performing Arts said:
“We thought that it would be really interesting to work
with Northern Ballet Theatre and The Royal Armouries so we
could look at the different ways in which the two organisations
would choreograph a fight scene. The students have enjoyed
the experience enormously and have praised the workshop all
the way through. It has given them the chance to work with
two organisations they wouldn’t normally be given the
opportunity to work with and have also been given the chance
to make new friends by working alongside students from other
schools.”
Two interpreters from the Royal Armouries
and two dancers from NBT worked with 23 students on the two-day
course to choreograph fight scenes and a dance sequence called
the Knight’s Dance.
After the workshop, the students created
short performances from the scenes and sequences they learned,
and presented them to their fellow participants.
Comments from the pupils involved:
“I’ve really enjoyed it.
I’ve liked learning the Knights Dance and working with
NBT and the Royal Armouries because it incorporated the dance
and drama.”
Annabel Townend, Morley High School
“I’ve really enjoyed it
so far. I’ve enjoyed doing the dancing best because
I enjoy doing dance. I enjoyed visiting the Royal Armouries
as well.”
Fiona Denham, Morley High School
“I like this performance because
we get to use dancing, but we get to use action while trying
to doing ballet moves and dancing. The sword fighting was
good but needed practice. The one thing I didn’t like
was the Knights Dance as it was quite complicated at the end.”
Bradley Henderson, Cockburn College of Performing
Arts
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