SUMMER MUSICAL "ELLA'S IMPOSSIBLE DREAM" - DAILY WORKSHOPS AND CAMPS
July - August 2024
Dear DoReWe members and music enthusiasts,
Welcome to the twenty-first edition of our DoReWe Diary. We hope you will enjoy reading it. We envite you to continue writing to us and to follow us on Facebook and Instagram
In this edition we are excited to share the following stories with you:
DO RE WE NEWS: Summer musical workshops and camps
FANTASTIC TIP: Tips for good public speaking
SONATA FROM THE STREET: Moms' feedback of a musical workshop participant
LALA QUIZ: Famous animal musical
TINY TREASURES: Short video of the summer musical
DO RE WE NEWS
Summer musical workshops and camps
During this year's summer vacation, the DoReWe team once again collaborated with the Naš Oder Cultural Association. Naš Oder is primarily dedicated to ensuring that both younger and older children perform on stage as much as possible. The collaboration yielded wonderful results – 4 weeks of summer musical theater workshops, including one week reserved for camps, where for the first time, we experienced workshops with overnight stays for the children. During the musical workshops and camps, children aged 6 to 16 spent a week learning roles, songs, and choreography, culminating in a full musical performance for their parents on Friday. Two weeks of the workshops were held in Slovenian, and two weeks in English.
This year's performance was titled "Ella's Impossible Dream", a family- and school-friendly musical about a young elephant named Ella who dreams of participating in the annual dance competition in the African jungle and becoming the first dancing elephant in history. Ella must face opposition and mockery from the evil snake Victor, but most importantly, she struggles with low self-confidence. With the support of two friends and the help of a wise mouse, Ella eventually finds the music and dance she loves. She overcomes her fears and decides to step onto the stage.
ORIGINAL MUSICAL
Ella's Impossible Dream" is an entirely original musical, created by the DoReWe team. The team wrote the story, all the dialogue, song lyrics, and composed most of the music themselves. This musical project began as an idea at the start of 2024 and slowly developed until the end of May. In March, we attended a scriptwriting workshop in London to ensure our story about Ella the elephant would truly shine on stage and make an impression on the audience.
SKILLS GAINED
At these types of summer workshops and camps, children and young people acquire musical and theatrical skills, creating an unforgettable experience that lasts a lifetime. They gain confidence, develop creativity, and foster team spirit, all of which will benefit them regardless of the career path they choose later on. They can also improve their English language skills, enjoy the diversity of participants, and form friendships that last long after the camp.
CREATIVITY: In a safe environment, children quickly gain courage, and the time for creativity begins. Some children are just getting acquainted with instruments, others expand their existing repertoire of songs and compositions, while some break free from inhibitions and embark on the journey of musical and theatrical improvisation for the first time. We believe that improvisation and the opportunity to make mistakes are essential, as children learn a lot from them. We strive to create an environment that is inspiring and fully tailored to the children's abilities and interests.
COURAGE: The first thing children learn is to overcome fear. On Monday morning, before the workshops begin, everyone feels a bit nervous, especially those who don't know anyone yet. That's why we first ensure a safe environment where children feel accepted just as they are. Similarly, most children face their own reservations and fears about performing on stage during the week. With the help of mentors through various activities, most children successfully overcome these reservations.
TEAM SPIRIT: In five days, children thoroughly learn that cooperation brings a completely new level of progress and that without team spirit, they couldn't create a wonderful final performance. It's most beautiful to see when children spontaneously practice their roles together and encourage each other.
FRIENDSHIPS: Thanks to children's openness and playfulness, beautiful friendships often develop during the week. Some last long after the workshops end. During the week with overnight stays, these new friendships visibly strengthened even more, as children spent afternoons and evenings together in various activities.
DIVERSITY: We encourage diversity. Younger, older, Slovenians, foreigners, people of color, boys, girls, sometimes children with special needs. Everyone presents themselves in their own way. This leads to a healthy attitude towards life and respect for those different from oneself.
EXCEPTIONAL RESULT: After 5 days of creation, children gain wings and often surprise even themselves. Thus, the final performance on Friday afternoon is full of joy and pride not only for the parents but also for the children themselves when they see what they are truly capable of!
SELF-CONFIDENCE: Most children strengthen their self-confidence during the workshops. The confidence to try something new, make new friendships, play with instruments, or step on stage. This is something children will need in most professions awaiting them in life.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE: Camps are conducted in Slovenian or English. English sessions can be attended by children of foreigners living in Slovenia, as well as Slovenian children who would like to improve their English language skills in practice.
MUSICAL SKILLS: Music workshops enhance musical skills through vocal training, playing practice, and exposure to various music genres.
THEATER SKILLS: The workshops simultaneously encourage theatrical skills by fostering creativity, stage presence, and collaboration, allowing participants to express themselves confidently and artistically on stage.
PROFESSIONAL MENTORS
The summer music and theater workshops are organized with a high degree of professionalism: - they are conducted by ACADEMIC MUSICIANS, who lead workshops in choral singing, solo singing, keyboards, and percussion - THEATER PROFESSIONALS who have specialized in musicals abroad also participate - various ANIMATORS and DANCERS take care of various additional activities - all MEALS are provided, breakfast, lunch, and for those staying overnight, dinner as well - one of the workshops is also a PAINTING WORKSHOP for creating scenery, which includes all painting materials and protective aprons - for the final performance, we provide SOUND EQUIPMENT, FACE PAINTING, AND COSTUMES.
Such comprehensive music and theater workshops were previously only available in major European cities, such as London. We are happy and proud that, with the collaboration of the DoReWe music center and the NAŠ ODER cultural association, we have managed to organize these workshops in Slovenia as well. This way, our children and young people will be able to gain invaluable experiences on home soil.
FANTASTIC TIP
#21 Tips for good public speaking
Public speaking represents one of the greatest fears for many people, so we've prepared some tips to help you master any public speaking engagement.
Nervousness is completely normal. Practice and prepare well!
All people experience some physiological reactions, such as a racing heart and shaky hands. Some nervousness is good. The adrenaline that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready for your best performance. The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare well. There's nothing better than reading aloud to ensure your message makes sense before you actually present it. You can also record yourself, which will make it easier to identify mistakes when you listen back.
Get to know your audience. Your speech is about them, not you.
Before you start crafting your message, think about who it's intended for. Learn as much as you can about your listeners. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organizational pattern, and motivational statement. Experts say that for a good public speaking performance, "how you make the audience feel" is even more important than "what you tell the audience".
Organize your material in the most effective way to achieve your purpose.
Create a framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to capture the audience's attention in the first 30 seconds.
Monitor feedback and adapt to it. Focus on the audience. Assess their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible. If you prepare for all possibilities, you'll calm your nerves and feel more in control.
Let your personality shine through. Be who you are and don't become a talking puppet - in all forms of communication. You'll establish better credibility if your personality stands out, and listeners will trust your words if they see a real person in you.
Use humor, tell stories, and use appropriate language if suitable. Telling a humorous story can break down all barriers, making you more likable and your message more memorable.
Don't read unless you have to. Work from an outline. Reading from slides breaks the interpersonal connection. By maintaining eye contact with the audience, you keep the attention on yourself and your message.
Grab Attention in the Introduction and End with a Dynamic Conclusion.
Do you enjoy listening to a speech that begins with "Today I will be talking about X"? Most people don't. Instead, use a surprising statistic, an interesting anecdote, or a concise quote. Rhetorical questions are also a great way to frame the topic and introduce ideas. Conclude your speech with a summary and a powerful statement that your audience will remember. A call to action is the best way to end your presentation with excellence and impact.
Good communication is never perfect, and nobody expects it to be. However, the time you dedicate to preparation will help you deliver a better speech. You might not be able to completely eliminate nervousness, but you can learn to manage it.
SONATA FROM THE STREET
Lidija, mom of a summer musical workshop participant, says:
"Dear DoReWe team 😃,
We truly enjoyed how beautifully you prepared everything and how you taught the children. THANK YOU for all your effort, teaching, encouragement, professionalism, kindness,... 🙏🍀🥰...
Oscar had a wonderful time with you this year, and the group of children was amazing 😍🥰, so kind, compassionate, warm-hearted,... When we came home, he said he already misses them 😊... It was truly wonderful, thank you to everyone 🙏🍀🥰🥰🥰"
LALA QUIZ
Which famous musical, staged after a Disney animated film, has animals performing?
A) Cats
B) The Lion King
C) 101 Dalmatians
This musical, with its beautiful music by Elton John, was inspired by the iconic Disney animated film and debuted on Broadway in 1997. It remains one of the most popular and frequented shows to this day.
TINY TREASURES
We invite you to have a look at a short video from one of this years performances of the musical "Ella's Impossible Dream" at summer camps.
Thank you for your time. We look forward to sharing more interesting and fun stories in the next issue.
Greetings from DoReWe!
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