NAPA News - Week 5, Term 1, 2023
Dear NAPA Families,
So much incredible teaching and learning is happening in our classes, it’s a joy to watch as I move around the rooms seeing the outcomes and the happy faces. Check out a snippet of our Broadway Bound class in this week’s lesson.
Broadway Tweens Audition Updates
Please take a moment to check your emails for updated information regarding the audition processes for Frozen. This has also been uploaded to your portal.
Thank You!
Thank you to all of you who wrote letters to Alba, we sent them to her on Saturday.
Thank you for your uniform orders, we are currently processing these, so our online shop has closed.
Thank you to all the helpers for our sausage sizzle on Saturdays – it can’t happen without you, so we greatly appreciate you volunteering.
P&F News
We are so grateful for the generosity of our parent community. There are many ways that you can get involved in our community at NAPA. If there are dads around who would be able to help out with the BBQ on Saturdays, we would love to see you there too. And if as parents you are unable to spare some time up at the NAPA Studios, you are more than welcome to donate homemade cupcakes, cookies, slices etc. Please contact Janneth Zarate to coordinate.
Happy Campers!
Our College kids and Miss Alana had a great time at camp and conquered all the challenges it involved. They had a surprise visit from a loved one, at the end of the camp, who gave them inspiring words of wisdom. Enjoy seeing some photos of their time at camp.
Drama Excursion
Our new College students had an excursion to Robina Shopping Centre this week, where we enjoyed a lunch together, then off they went to do a characterisation activity where they follow various people to take on their movement characteristics.
Helping your child cope with the stress of auditions.
Many of our production classes are currently in auditions or will be soon. So it’s a timely to support our students and parents in managing this effectively. Auditioning can be quite daunting and stressful, so it’s important to apply a few strategies to assist your child with the process. Hope you find this helpful:
Be prepared – it’s important to read thoroughly the information provided regarding the requirements of the audition and prepare accordingly. It is very nerve racking if you are unprepared in any aspect of the audition.
Approach the audition process as exciting and fun when you are discussing it with your child. The process of auditioning, of getting to play many different characters, and of growing both personally and professionally, can be very rewarding and enjoyable. It’s important to give your child “pep talks” from time to time, to keep them feeling positive during the audition process.
Remind your child that participating in an audition is success in itself and should be celebrated!!
Encourage your child to treat auditions as an exciting chance to perform for an audience.
Help them understand that the industry is highly competitive as only one person can get the role. Rejection is part and parcel of the process it’s nothing personal.
The fact that your child wasn’t cast for a lead role may have nothing to do with their ability. The casting director may have decided to go with a child that has a different physical feature, age, vocal quality or who displays excellent work ethics and attitudes.
If they are not ready for the role they would like to play it is worth getting feedback where possible to inform you on what they need to work on.
If they don’t get the role they were hoping for, know that an ensemble role is a fantastic learning opportunity. It is the best way to learn stagecraft, grow confidence and know that they are vital part of the performance.
Don’t look at it as a failed auditions for the simple fact that every audition is a learning experience, even the ones that might seem to go badly. These are an opportunity to learn from mistakes and perhaps improve skills that you or your child didn’t realise were lacking.
It’s important that you help your child to understand that every audition isn’t necessarily an opportunity to land a role but more like a chance to improve their auditioning skills. Once they have this mindset, it will be much easier for them to analyse their own performance.
If they are upset in any way after the audition, acknowledge your child’s feelings; redirect attention and make it fun. A way you can do this is to repeat back to them what they have stated about their experience, e.g. “Oh, you feel terrible? I am so sorry you feel that way,” rather than just overriding your child’s emotions or deflecting. Once you feel that your child’s emotions have been acknowledged, suggest a fun activity, such as a trip to the park or for ice cream.
Here’s the great news: children don’t hold on to things as long as we adults do! Especially with young children, the “rejection,” as you fear it, might not be perceived by the child as a rejection at all. So the less you both dwell on the post-audition analysis, the better. Have fun!
Have a great week everyone!
Cheers,
Lynn & Team
