Hop, slither, flutter, creep...

We feel relaxed,  feel a part of it, happy, feel like I belong in a nature reserve, relieved, excited, joyful, freedom, peace, kumnandi, gevaarlik (in a good way), awesome….

These were some of the thoughts expressed by learners on how their afternoon at Princess Vlei made them feel. The sixty seven learners were from Harmony Primary, Buck Road Primary, Levana Primary and Hillwood Primary. They came to Princess Vlei during September on field trips to observe how the animals at Princess Vlei move.
     Learners were invited to go out and observe different animals and insects, and notice how they move. They were asked to describe these choosing from a list that included words like hop, slither, scurry, swoop; to draw a path tracing the trajectory of each animals movement; to observe animal tracks in the sand. Finally, they were asked to embody the animals movement in their own body, and to create a movement sequence depicting the various species at Princess Vlei.

The group from Levana were fascinated by the appearance of a mole rat, who briefly stuck his head and enormous teeth out of a tunnel to see what was going on. Other learners found grasshoppers, dragonflies, butterflies and various birds. A grey heron provided wonderful inspiration with its elegant pacing and snake like neck.
     The field trip forms part of the Princess Vlei Forum’s junior guardians education project to experience nature at Princess Vlei in creative ways. Asking learners to embody the movements encourages them to feel a connection to the creatures. The project is sponsored by the Hans Hohesien Charitable Trust managed by Nedbank Private wealth.
      The learners began the trip with some co-ordinated movements led by Xoli Fuyani, while  Vincent and Siya from Jungle Theatre Company gave them a beat on a drum.  Xoli, Vincent and Siya will be developing these movements into dances, which will be performed during our Dance Weaver’s Procession on October 22.