Fairy Tales & Fables
This fall we have been busy gathering with a few locals once a week to read through various Fairy Tales. Once we have read and discussed them, the students, with the help of a script, create a skit based on the current Fairy Tale. There is very little direction given at this stage of the process and the students have been coming up with fantastic ideas for their skits.
Towards the end of the fall, we worked toward creating a puppet theatre of one of the Fairy Tales we studied. Coming this New Year, we will pull it all together and present it to the parents.
Overall, the approach I took was one of wonder, creativity and imitation. The only thing “to do” was read, discuss and act. I had no other preconceived ideas or agenda. I observed the outpouring of creativity from abundant imaginations, and the pure joy that comes from wonder. What more could I desire for my students than this?
This activity gave the students an introduction to what is coined as “Musical Education” in the Liberal Arts Tradition by Ravi Scott Jain and Kevin Clark. This is an education inspired by the Muses which lays the foundation for the ordering of loves and furnishing the imagination on the true, good and beautiful. It is an education in wonder, an education of the the heart.
Play in the playground of myth, fable and tale-it will not disappoint.
Crystal Joy Campbell 