Colourful creatures for the procession

Our Dance Weaver Procession on October 22 promises to be a colourful occasion, after last week,s workshops to decorate T-shirts for the event.
     Senior Guardians from Lotus High will be at the event, acting as volunteers to help marshal the younger learners, and running workshops for the younger learners to make colourful shakers. They had a tie-dying workshop to tie-dye T-shirts for themselves, with stunning results. These colourful t-shirts will identify them as the helpers on the day.

       The Junior Guardians, who will be taking part in dances inspired by the nature at Princess  Vlei, painted t-shirts to wear. Their paintings were inspired by the creatures at Princess Vlei, particularly the fish, birds, insects, chameleons, crabs and  frogs. Learners were given drawings of the creatures to trace onto the t-shirts, then painted them inspired by photographs or by their own colour schemes. In the process, they learnt about composition and colour mixing. Learners were also asked to think of words  that can bring healing to the world, and to add these to their designs. The workshops were held with learners from Harmony Primary, Buck Road Primary, Levana Primary and Hillwood Primary.
       The Dance Weaver event draws on the tradition of the spiritual healing dances that were such an important part of Khoe culture, and of many other indigenous nations. Learners from four primary schools have developed dances inspired by nature at Princess Vlei, with the help of movement practitioner and environmental activist Xoli Fuyeni, and Vincent and Siya from Jungle Theatre Company. We hope that these dances will help to heal some of the troubles in our communities and in the world, while giving the learners a wonderful experience of using their bodies to express themselves, and the power of moving together in a team.