OUT OF THE BOX CREATIVE LEARNING GUIDE MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT OUTOFTHEBOXFESTIVAL.COM.AU

Australian Curriculum v.8.1 Dance: F-2

Respond to dance and consider where and why people dance, starting with dances from Australia including dances of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACADAR004).

Media Arts: F-2

Respond to media artworks and consider where and why people make media artworks, starting with media from Australia including media artworks of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACAMAR057).

Music: F-2

Respond to music and consider where and why people make music, starting with Australian music, including music of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (ACAMUR083).

Humanities and Social Sciences: F-2

Inquiry and skills: Questioning

Pose questions about past and present objects, people, places and events/issues (ACHASSI001, ACHASSI018, ACHASSI034).

QUEENSLAND CURRICULUM ASSESSMENT AUTHORITY Essential Learnings by the end of year 3THE ARTS

Ways of workingRespond to arts works and describe initial impressions and personal interpretations, using arts elements and languages.

Knowledge and understanding

Dance: Percussive and sustained movement qualities are used to change the energy in movement phrases.

Media: Still and moving images, sounds and words are used in media texts.

Music: Familiar sound sources, including vocal and instrumental sources, have characteristics sound qualities (tone colour).

SOSE

Knowledge and understanding

Time, continuity and change: Contributions of individuals and groups to communities can be identified by symbols and stories.

Culture and Identity: Stories about significant events and individuals reflect cultural diversity in local and other Australian communities.

AGE RANGE 5–8 YearsVENUE Lyric Theatre, QPACCOST School Groups 10+ $20pp 1 teacher free per 10 students bookedBOOKINGS outoftheboxfestival.com.auRefer to Festival Timetable on pp. 16-17 for available times and dates.

5–8 Years Creature

An ADAPTATION of Dot and the Kangaroo

Creature is a new interactive digital and physical theatre experience based on the much loved Australian story, Dot and the Kangaroo.Discover the magical landscape of the Australian bush as you’ve never seen it before, where large scale 3D projections of familiar animals spring to life and respond to the dance and aerial performers on stage. How long before this unique native wildlife disappears as humans encroach on their habitat?Creature invites you to step into an enchanting world to explore how human actions affect the Australian environment.First commissioned by QPAC for the 2016 Out of the Box festival for children eight years and under.

proudly supported by brisbane’s child

an out of the box festival and stalker theatre production

OUT OF THE BOX CREATIVE LEARNING GUIDE MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT OUTOFTHEBOXFESTIVAL.COM.AU

CREATIVE LEARNING GUIDE Creature is an interactive visual and physical theatre performance inspired by the well-loved Australian children’s book Dot and the Kangaroo. This innovative experience uses interactive multi-media to create a performance space that stimulates and engages children’s imaginations on a large scale. Children will be taken on a virtual journey through place and time and along the way they will encounter many of Australia’s unique and native flora and fauna. The creative use of technology, music, imagery and movement in Creature exposes children to a virtual environment that demonstrates how innovative The Arts are in communicating a story. In Media Arts, children can see how the ideas, characters and setting have been explored through the use of images, sounds and text as well as how stories can be told effectively thorough digital media. Children could respond to the work by considering the use of the elements of Media to position the audience to consider the themes of the piece such as animal conservation and protection. In Music, children can investigate texture and explore how sounds create mood and atmosphere. In Dance, children may be inspired to use the themes of the animals, habitats or conservation as stimulus for movement ideas. Children will also gain ideas about using projections to change the environment of their performance space.This multi-faceted performance builds on children’s environmental conscious and informs them about the diverse flora and fauna of Australia and the importance of conserving the land to allow them to flourish. Images of Australian animals appear and disappear in front of the audience, which allows for discussion about ideas relevant in Humanities and Social Sciences. Children can pose questions about the impact humans have on the environment and what we can do to minimize the damage we may cause. This provides an opportunity for children to research and investigate the relationship Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander People have with animals and the land.

ART FORM FOCUS:The Arts: Media Arts, Music and Dance

KEY MESSAGES:How long before the unique native Australian wildlife disappears as we encroach on their habitat and push them off the land?

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY:Through Media Arts, Music and Dance activities, children can delve deeper into the innovative use of the elements, techniques and processes used to communicate the important messages in the performance. The following learning activities provide children the opportunity to engage in improvisations, movement and play responding to the ideas and concepts in the production.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:READRead the children’s storybook, Dot and the Kangaroo and discuss the ideas of land conservation and animal protection. Act out the story thinking about how the characters would move, talk and interact with one another. Draw the characters in their environments.RESEARCH• Research and investigate the relationship Aboriginal people and

Torres Strait Islander People have with animals and the land.• Investigate Australia’s native wildlife. Research to create a list

of endangered animals due to loss of habitat. In pairs, select an animal from the list and create a poster or presentation to inform people about what is happening and how they can help. Present this to the class and discuss the importance of advocacy. Extension – Create a scene to communicate the ideas and important messages you have researched.

WHAT’S THE STORY?Discuss the significant moments in the performance and why they made an impact on the audience. In pairs, write a story exploring the importance of either land conservation or animal protection. Storyboard the key moments to create a plan for a short film or a series of freeze frames. Extension – Film and edit the short film or rehearse the freeze frames with transitions from one image to the next and present to an audience.YOU’RE A NATURAL!Go on an adventure through a garden or bush and either photograph or sketch the flora. Create a collage of your etchings or create an artwork inspired by what you find.SOUNDSCAPEExplore the sounds of animals you can make on your own or as a group. Think about how to make the sound with your voice or body. For example, how can you recreate the sound of a herd of elephants from slowing walking to a stampede? Listen to the sounds of different animals, either recorded or live and try to mimic the rhythm, pitch and dynamics. Create an animal soundscape by layering the different sounds in a music-editing program or live as a group.MOVE IT LIKE A…How does an animal move? Where does it live? How does it interact with other animals? Explore and experiment with the shape, size and levels of how different animals move. Do they jump, run, slide or hop? Respond to images, video or your memory. Think about the tempo (fast/slow) and dynamics (jerky, smooth, slithering etc.) and pathways (zigzag, straight, random etc.). Create a sequence of movement to represent one or more animals. Choreograph a dance using a range of sequences you and/or someone else has created. Combine the sequences to create a dance.MAKE A STATEMENTBrainstorm ideas about an important message you want to tell an audience about land conservation or animal protection. Create a performance using media, music and dance communicate this message.

OUT OF THE BOX CREATIVE LEARNING GUIDE MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE AT OUTOFTHEBOXFESTIVAL.COM.AU

OTHER RESOURCESBOOKSPedley, Ethel (1899) Dot and the Kangaroo, HarperCollins Publishers Australia

WEBSITESStalker Theatre Company http://www.stalker.com.au/ Reading Australia – Dot and the Kangaroo http://readingaustralia.com.au/books/dot-and-the-kangaroo/ Save Our Species Program | NSW Government - Office of Environment and Heritagehttp://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/edresources/TeachersKitNationalpark.htm Land for Wildlife http://www.lfwseq.org.au/index Atlas for Living Australia http://www.ala.org.au/ Children and Nature Network http://www.childrenandnature.org/