Page 18 - FIS World JUne 2024

Connected Joy
An ensemble of first timers
The Small Pleasures of Life is a book written by French writer Philippe Delerm. It consists of a series of beautifully descriptive short essays that
focus on little moments in life. These moments allow the reader to view the world with more wonder, to find time to appreciate precious situations and to think a little deeper.
One of the many small pleasures in my own life was a phenomenal workshop with renowned poet Lemn Sissay. While teaching the mechanics of poetry, he probed us to find a word that linked to a tree. Immediately students called out “leaf, branch, roots.” He asked them to take a moment to think deeper – “What does the tree mean? How does it ignite your senses?” Students then thoughtfully responded with words like“strength, family, protection, trust.” So often our “moments” at school and life pass by too quickly. How can we hold onto these precious pieces to fully appreciate and engage with them?
A precious piece of the performing arts at FIS is engaging fully with the concept of ensemble. We have been inspired by the work of Michael Boyd and The Ensemble Approach in which he defines the beliefs and values with words like empathy, imagination, tolerance and patience. If given a moment, these too can equally give great pleasure to an individual, and in turn, the group.
With that in mind, I would like to share my thoughts about first times and the great pleasures of an international dance festival through the lens of The Ensemble Approach. In the words of Lemn Sissay, let’s take a moment to “think deeper.”
First times and the power of ensemble
For the first time ever, the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA) held a festival solely dedicated to dance. One of the participating schools was from Brazil – a first. It was also the first time FIS had hosted a performing arts festival since Covid. Additionally, we were lucky to welcome back Luca Delacroix, who graduated from his dance internship at FIS and swiftly joined ISTA as a dance artist... his first. Add to this that all of the students, teachers and artists attending were meeting each other, yes you guessed it, for the first time, then throw in a couple of culturally enriching experiences – one to the Städel Museum and the other to the Museum for Modern Art (MMK) to see “Eye for and I”, an exhibition by award winning artist Christelle Oyiri. This surely had to be a first.
The question became “How can we harness this incredible ‘first time’ energy into three days of jam packed, relationship building, connection making, and creative collaboration that works through meaningful and purposeful processes and culminates in a shared experience?”
16 FIS World May 2024