CULTURE

College Cultural Festival

The GC and BC had a very successful cultural day in May. In the early morning GC had two workshop sessions where the girls could choose between HipHop, 3D Mandala Mural-Making, Stage Combat, Eastern Culture and Yoga, Drum café, an Improv workshop, Slam Poetry or attend a GC Choir rehearsal. At 10am the whole of GC gathered in the Gym to watch this year’s Fleur du Cap Best Actor, Craig Morris, perform Blood Orange. At 11:30 the two colleges converged in the amphitheatre for the opening ceremony where Amazwi, Sancta Symphonia and the Dukes performed. For the rest of the day there were many options on offer: Hani the Legacy, Jittery Citizens comedy improv, G10 Drama Commedia Dell Arte performance as well as the 4 FEDA plays, an open mic session, a senior drama showcase and a DJ play off with a guest appearance by the up-and-coming SA band, Born Free.

There was a downside to the event in that the Sanaa Africa Organisation did not meet their contractual obligations to provide certain equipment, marketing materials or a JOC compliance certificate on time, so the planned Sanaa Africa Festival on Saturday 26 May was cancelled. However, we continued with the plans to incorporate our Thandulwazi students into the festival and they watched performances of Hani the Legacy and Jittery Citizens, which were extremely well received.

DRAMA

FEDA - Festival of Excellence in Dramatic Arts

Girls’ College entered three plays into the highly competitive FEDA Festival held annually at the Johannesburg Theatre. Two plays were in the original works section and one in the scripted. Each of the plays were highly commended by the adjudicators and we were gratified by the number of certificates and nominations we received.

ORIGINAL WORKS

• The Truth I need to Tell – 4 nominations – for Best Original Script, Director, Actress and AV.
• Illusion of the Rainbow – 5 nominations – for Best Original Script, Clown, Satire, Ensemble and Costume.

PUBLISHED WORKS – FINALIST with 13 nominations

• Uhm… Here we won two categories:
• The Best Published Work - Best Actress - Bongi Dlomo and The Best Script Choice.
• We also had several nominations for -       Best Director, Production Design, Production, Satire, Comedy, Accent Work, Ensemble, Supporting Actress, Supporting Actors.
• The director, cast and crew of Uhm… have been invited to attend the Naledi Awards Ceremony.
  

Soap Festival

Auditions for the Senior One Act Play Festival SOAP FEST will be taking place this term in preparation for the competition which takes place in October of Term 3.

Theatre Club Outings

This term we watched our set work play Green Man Flashing at the Theatre on the Square.

MUSIC

Kingsmead Festival

Our College Orchestra, under the baton of Eddie Clayton, performed in the Kingsmead Festival on Wednesday 23 May at the Rosebank Union Church and were reportedly the best group to play.

Choirs

Our singers are working hard towards their participation in the World Choir Games in Pretoria, later this term. The GC Choir participated in a workshop on 2 May and 1 June. The Amazwi Choir is working equally hard and our a cappella group have had the opportunity to perform at a number of events at the College.

Founders’ Day

Founders’ Day massed choirs and orchestra were superb.  It was wonderful to have the introduction of staff in the massed choir and orchestra this year.

Roedean Music Competition

The following girls represented the school at the prestigious Roedean Music Competition at the beginning of June: Jodi Carr, Chante Du Preez, Jennifer Everett and Natasja Troskie.

DEBATING

The second round of the SACEE Senior Championships took place on Saturday 26 May. Our senior debaters broke 7th so they are through to the quarter finals.

VISUAL ARTS

Exhibitions/Outings

The Grade 10s visited the Everard Read Gallery in Rosebank to view an international exhibition of Botanical Art. These same learners will also be entering their own work into the Senior North Gauteng Science Fair in August.

Raising Boys and Girls Conference

Forty of our Grade 8 and 9 learners exhibited work at the 2018 Raising Boys and Girls Conference held at the BC.

Competitions

Eight learners came away with certificates and awards from the 2018 Arts and Culture Fest at Joburg Theatre in April.
A number of learners entered work into an online drawing competition for Faber Castell South Africa with two learners placing in the top ten nationally.
A handful of learners intend to enter work in the 2018 Round Square Roy McCormish Art competition.
A number of learners have entered work into the International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Art in Lidice, Czech Republic and Gemma Porrill received an Honourable Mention.

Visiting Artists

Two pottery studio artists have been hard at work setting up a pottery studio and repairing equipment at the GC. One-night events and pottery courses on offer to follow shortly.