THE ARTS & CULTURE DEPARTMENT

Music

The South Peninsula Music Department offers tuition in a number of instruments, including piano, flute, guitar, saxophone and trumpet. Ms Dianne Gordon is the Head of this Department. Students interested in ensemble work have the opportunity to be part of the jazz band and jazz orchestra trained by Dr Clive Kronenberg (who also offers tuition in guitar), and those interested in choral work have access to the choir trained by Mr Reggie Dreyer, assisted by Mrs Adeline Jansen and Ms Leanda Petersen. Students who play other musical instruments, for example trombone and violin, receive their instrumental classes at Beau Soleil while the theory section is covered at school. Aspirant drummers receive tuition from a visiting drum tutor.

The various bands are in great demand, and have performed at various outside functions, including the Community Chest Carnival held at Maynardville in February this year, and the 60th Anniversary celebration of Victoria Cricket Club held at. the Civic Centre.

The department has regular instrumental concerts, which give instrumentalists a chance to show their talents in more serious music forms, as well as folk and jazz styles. The choir often joins these evenings to entertain us with one or other stunning rendition of familiar songs. Furthermore, from time to time the music students have benefited from workshops run by various experts in their field. In recent times these have included the world renowned jazz pianist and composer Abdullah Ibrahim and his band Ikhaya, a pair of visiting Indian musicians and the Cape Town Jazz Orchestra. Ibrahim points out to his audience that the key to success is practice, practice and practice. Click here for some photos.

                                    The choir with Ms Leanda Pietersen on the left, Mrs Adeline Jansen on the right and Mr Reggie Dreyer in front.

The Jazz band appears just as regularly to perform at its own jazz evenings or as guests performing at a variety of events. Some examples of these performances in the first term have been their performances at the Wynberg Girls’ School Sunset Concert, the Frank Joubert Open Day, and the EMDC South’s Xenex Project Launch, as well as a short appearance at the instrumental concert at school during the second term.

Drama

The arrival at SP in 2007 of Mr John Jusa to teach Drama has injected the school with a burst of vitality and creativity. Besides being a component of the Grade 8 and 9 Arts and Culture syllabus, Dramatic Studies is offered as a subject from Grades 10 to 12. The numbers are growing annually, and the Drama students’ enthusiasm and openness to guidance have already contributed to making this department a vibrant and exciting one.

Every year the Drama department presents a showcase of the Grade 10 and 11 students’ talents. In 2008 Anton Chekhov’s The Proposal was successfully staged by the Grade 11s of 2008 at the Katalist Theatre in Mowbray. In December 2009 in the SP hall the Grade 10s performed a series of skits in mime, but the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the staging by the Grade 11s of a play written by American playwright Christopher Durang. The Baby with the Bathwater is a satirical dark comedy highlighting a somewhat dysfunctional family’s attempts to raise their son. Contrary to what many people might think, playing a comedy is not easy, and to play a dark comedy well is very difficult. However, the actors in this production, from the leads to the minor characters, performed brilliantly. The main roles were played by Toni-Lee Edwards (the mother), Hayden Bagley (the father), Rehana Schouw (the maid) and Brandon Hoffmeister (the son, Daisy). Other roles were played by Keisha Wentzel, Lisa Hill, Amy Mauritz, Danielle Cozett and Tarryn de Kock. Below are some photos taken during rehearsal.  

In 2010 the Grade 11 Drama students staged ‘Sofiatown’, with Rebecca Arendse, Cruz Higgins, Brent Layman and Gilead Engelbrecht playing the leads, while the Grade 10s staged ‘Teenangel’.

Earlier this year the Drama department launched a talent search under the name of ‘Thee Unseen Stars’. Singers, bands and dancers were invited to audition. This included non-SP students as well. The finals were held on June 23. The standard was extremely high, and prizes were awarded to the top non-SP acts, as well as to the top SP act, which was the band Eminence, led by Dayle Theunissen and fronted by Lyle Ceto.

Dance

One of the components of the Arts and Culture syllabus in the junior grades, Dance is also offered as a subject in the senior grades. Ms Kim Isaacs and Mr Wentzel April are the Dance instructors. Their students have impressed with their colourful costumes and slick moves at various cultural evenings.

Visual Art and Design

Our Art students attend the Battswood Art Centre, as well as the Frank Joubert Art School for their theory and practicals, with Mr Albert Hess and Ms Lauren Fletcher also providing tuition. Once again, there is an abundance of talent among our students. Their work always draws admiration. Click here for more photos.