Bodyology was a one-man show performed by John Burstein as "Slim Goodbody," a character from the PBS show "The Inside Story." The show featured original songs and interesting graphics about different body parts and systems and how they work. It also focused on healthy habits (ABSOLUTELY NO SMOKING EVER, NEVER) and good eating. It was interactive and a lot of fun, and covered a lot of what we have been learning or will introduce in the next few weeks. For extra added fun we got to see Sofia perform an upside down and backwards "bridge walk" and Mrs. Towne move her arms "tick tock, like a clock" when Slim asked for volunteers to show amazing things audience members could do with their bodies.
Here's a short excerpt of the show if you'd like to see some of it:
http://www.slimgoodbody.com/national_tour/
The Great Mountain, an eco-adventure story, was a more traditional play performed by the Canadian theater group "Red Sky," a company focused on world indigenous dance, theater and music performances.
In "The Great Mountain," the main character, Nuna, has inherited the ability to hear the voices of nature. In response to the cries of the Great Mountain, or "Mistak," (sp?) (the Blackfoot word for mountain), Nuna must summon the courage to climb the mountain and find the power to heal the grieving environment in order to change her world.
During the after-show discussion, Meegwun Fairbrother, who played the Grandfather/Business Man/Conductor/Fisherman/Boy/Mika Jr., told us the play was inspired by the Northern Plains story of Jumping Mouse (3 versions of this story can be found here: http://www.katinkahesselink.net/other/mouse1.html), a small mouse who knows of nothing more than his small community until he jumps high enough to see the mountains and realizes there is more to the world.
The play is an allegory of global warming, and focuses on young people’s capacity to address current pressing environmental issues, which we will dig into later in the year when we finish our science unit on animals/ecosystems and get into issues of extinction, preservation, and environmental protection.
You can find out more about the play at:
http://www.broadwaycenter.org/education/ed_great-mountain.asp
and watch a short clip at:
http://www.redskyperformance.com/the-great-mountain-family-theatre
The students absolutely loved the beauty and historic detail of the restored Pantages theater (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Center_for_the_Performing_Arts), but one of the highlights of the week was lunch at the Middle School, where 6th graders were working on their Technology projects:
Collin is working on creating a "Minecraft" version of the old movie, "Metropolis" -- there was more than a little interest here, as you can see!
Matthew got to show off the "hidden object" game he is developing to some interested gamers!
What a great week! Thanks to the parents who accompanied us, and, of course, to our intrepid bus driver!
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