We are delighted to announce we’re supporting Dragons Stage and Theatre School with funding for camera equipment so they can incorporate ‘movie making’ to further involve their students and showcase their work to the community.
A well-known group in the Great Yarmouth area, the school teaches theatre skills, singing, dancing and acting to local young people between 6 and 16 years. The school started over 30 years ago from St. George’s Theatre and Caister High School and are now at Filby Village Hall. Students are welcome from all backgrounds and ethnicities and there are no auditions to join the group. Past productions have included the UK premier of 'Around the World in 80 Days'; Annie; Disney's Beauty and the Beast; and Alice in Wonderland, as well as recurring productions of Stephen Sondheim's 'Into the Woods' among over 40 others.
The school recognises the importance of developing a sense of self-worth and confidence in their students, incorporating theatre games, singing and dancing into their work, and encourage working together, where the students as a group support each other, with a sense of family and belonging.
During the past 12 months, the performing arts group have been actively thinking of new ways to engage their students, setting up an online teaching page and using social media to showcase activity the children have engaged with from home. Since their audiences are no longer able to attend their shows for the foreseeable future, the school are making their performances more accessible to the community by recording shows and including ‘movie making’ as part of the work they do.
The grant will enable the school to purchase a camera and equipment to produce videos of students’ performances and to enable the students to produce short films for their families, friends and the community. This participation from the students enhances their self-worth, wellbeing, confidence and develops character building; and the adults, tutors, fundraisers and parent helpers in the school will have the opportunity to learn new skills in photography, film making and theatre skills. The school hopes the short films will encourage other young people and the wider community to get involved.
Nigel Alexander, the school’s Director said “over the past year, performance groups, both large and small, have needed to become increasingly inventive when it comes to just doing what they do. This is just as true for theatre schools as it is for the adult theatre performers. The inability to have a live audience, whether that would be the children's parents and supporters or the general public attending the numerous fetes and carnivals in the area, has required a change in direction.
As we have been required to perform in a socially distanced way, the Dragons have exchanged their live audience for a virtual one by making movies of all their work. This has been challenging and during the past year we have developed a need for better recording equipment to further the school's new style of working. The grant supplied by the trust will mean we can now move forwards more rapidly with our productions, whether that is a show, dance or singing and then post these to the local area. Our thanks again for this wonderful support."
The school can be contacted on their main Facebook page or on their website
If you are part of an amazing sport or leisure team and would like to apply for up to £500 of funding, we are taking applications for awarding in May 2021.
