Children's folkdance performance

13 September 2011

Many of our students attend a nearby private primary school.  This week the school has Gaucho Days, or something like that, in honor of which they put on a traditional folk dance performance.  My students begged me to attend the show, and yesterday we went on a spontaneous walking field trip to their school so that 1) they could show me their school; and 2) I would know where to come for the dance performance.  What a fun spontaneous field trip!

The show was this morning at 8:00, and as I didn't sleep very well, it was sooooo hard to drag myself out of bed this morning, but it was worth it.  The boys were dressed in their cowboy outfits and the girls in long dresses, which like all girls everywhere, they were very proud of.

Here they are lined up outside waiting for their entrance (by grade).  The four smiling at the camera are my students, and one way off in the back as well.

 More mugging for the camera; the boy with the blue kerchief is also one of my students.  The one boy is jumping up and down in front of the others for the picture.

 My students looking sweet - but that little angry girl stealing focus behind them with her arms folded looks like Nellie Olson!  ("Little House on the Prairie" reference.)

 Last minute wardrobe adjustments.

 I am being told to hurry and go inside so I won't miss their entrance!  Run!

 Once all of the classes had filed into the room in formation, the hosts and kids posed a bit for the audience, then the children all filed to the back (boys and girls holding hands in pairs, horror of horrors!) and were seated on the floor by class.  Everyone then stood for a mass chorus of the national anthem.

 The kids performed their dance by grade, beginning with the second graders.  The smallest children had performed the day before and were seated in the front rows of the audience.

Here is a video of the fifth grade class dance.  Three of them are my students, and everytime I got focused on one of them, the dancers all moved back and forth several meters, so I was hard pressed to keep track of them with the camera!

After the performance, parents and friends could mingle with the kids and take photos.  I met a few parents, but some of my students' parents were not there so I was doubly glad I went. Aren't they sweet?

One of the girls had chosen not to participate in the dancing (there were a number of kids sitting on the sideline, so apparently it is optional).

 These are the same kind of orchids that I photographed around the garden and which can be seen growing everywhere here, especially on trees.

 Like an amoeba, the group kept growing and growing with the arrival of each additional camera-toting relative.  All of these girls are my students, I'm so proud! :)

 This is the little girl who started it all in motion yesterday by inviting me to come to the performance.  Or should I say, insisting!

 She was also sporting an orchid of a larger, showier variety, which her mother told me was the last one in her garden!

 Walking home, who should I spot but Fritz and Frieda?

 There are more Volkswagen beetles here than in Berlin!  All of them appear to be vintage; I haven't seen any of the recent beetle models here. I also took this photo to show how colorful it is here.  Buildings are as likely to be painted in vibrant colors as soft pastels here, which I find quite fun.

 These jays landed so close to my head I couldn't resist "capturing" them.