Wakakirri for Primary Schools
A great story can change the way people think about the world around them. Wakakirri is a Story-Dance festival where schools aim to do just that! Wakakirri is an incredible experience for Primary schools. The aims of Wakakirri is;
- To create opportunities for student voice and expression
- To build social and emotional wellbeing
- To enhance connection and belonging
- Student engagement
Schools participate by creating Story-Dances which they can either;
- Perform in live theatres in capital cities and selected regional areas around Australia or
- Schools unable to attend a live event can send in their performance via video.
Schools can choose to tell any story that they wish. Schools’ performances are often inspired by the Wakakirri ethos ‘great stories inspire change’ and the annual festival motif (in 2023 the motif is CHANGE). Environmental, social, cultural, health, historical & reconciliation stories are all popular. Each year hundreds of schools across Australia create and perform Story-Dances for Wakakirri that reflect students’ thoughts, ideas and aspirations.
A Wakakirri Story-Dance is a 3-7 minute performance by a group of students who theatrically tell a story using a combination of dancing, creative movement and acting to pre-recorded music. Primary Schools can tell any story and use any combination of dance, creative movement, acting, music, props, costumes, sets and film projections. The possibilities are endless! Incorporate the annual signature item into the story for an extra challenge.
Any primary school can enter. Groups sizes for the live event can range from 20 to 120. There are no minimum/maximum group size restrictions if submitting in the video event.
Teacher Masterclass – A free 60-minute Q&A webinar presented by the Wakakirri Festival Director, Adam Loxley. Come along and meet the Wakakirri team and we will talk you through various topics related to Story-Dance, answer questions, and give you lots of tips on how to make your Wakakirri experience fun while avoiding the common mistakes most first-time schools make!
Can we get help? Yes! If your school is under resourced or your teachers don’t have the time to help students create a story-dance the Wakakirri Artist is Residence program can provide a solution. Check out the details here.
STORY-DANCE GUIDELINES
- Schools participate by creating Story-Dances which they can either perform live at theatres in capital cities and selected regional areas around Australia or for Schools unable to attend a live event can send in their performance via video.
- A Wakakirri Story-Dance is a 3-7 minute performance by a group of students that theatrically tells a story using any combination of dancing, acting, creative movement, sets and props, costumes, projection, pre-recorded music (and special effects for video entries).
- Schools can tell any story they wish. The story should be progressive (orientation, complication, resolution) engaging, easy to follow, appropriate, and relevant to the performers.
- The story should be mainly told through Story-Dancing. Story Dancing is the creative combination of dancing, creative movement and acting to tell a story. Creativity and characterisation are important elements of Story Dancing
- The soundtrack should enhance the telling of the story but not relied upon to tell the story.
- A Story Dance item can have sets, props, costumes, projections, live singing (and special effects for video entries) that enhance the telling of the story (not tell the story), well utilised and are not gratuitous. Wakakirri encourages schools to minimise their environmental footprint when creating props and costumes for their performance. Special awards are available to schools that excel in this area.
- Schools can incorporate the annual festival motif into their story for an extra challenge. This is not compulsory.