01 / unfolding education:

Earlier educational methods © Education Museum

What does the word education mean to the individual?

One interpretation of the word is as follows: that a man or a woman who can think for him or herself. The implication being that the said human being, having gone through a period of learning at whatever level, is or could be, with practice, capable of reasoning, judging and comprehending the information gathered.

Education suggests the accessing the world of books inclusive of so many subjects; of the world of music and the natural world. Being aware, not only the visual form, but also from the sounds and movement of nature. Another aspect of learning is the practical reality of life: where possible being able to feed one's self, the adoption of personal and home hygiene as well as a work ethic. Being constantly surrounded by all of these forms of an education is indeed a blessing.

On a personal level my field of work is that of historical research and tutoring the English language at particular levels. History wise – learning can lead one to be able to place in a perspective and context, events of the past. On one hand the mind soars and marvels at the intellectual capability of the human mind and then folds at its unbelievably cruel and degenerate actions.

Language wise: what a pleasure it is to discuss and attempt an understanding of a piece of comprehension be it in the form of a passage from a play by Shakespeare, a novel or poetry. Think of the thought process that can occur by the usage and understanding of words and by the writing and drawing out the various nuances of these words. All of the different matters that govern our lives, be they social, political or economic are laid bare as to their value or otherwise, their fame, nobility, generosity of thought, corruption or hypocrisy. Imagination can be strengthened by knowledge and in the understanding of a subject.

01 / opening the window: new africa theatre academy and the value of arts education

The plight of millions of young people growing to adulthood with no qualifications and no prospects in the job markets is one of the profoundest crises of the apartheid legacy.

Not for lack of wanting or effort on their part. Hosts of young men and women battle their way each year to some level of grade twelve qualification, only to find the higher education queue too long to join. Not only are the opportunities scarce, but funding is pitifully inadequate, and then they face a gauntlet of cultural, educational, geographical, infrastructural and social barriers.
Although, against the size of the challenge, it’s a drop in the ocean, New Africa Theatre Academy (NATA) provides one valuable option. And perhaps, if vocational education is supported one day by more thoughtful policy, it could become a model that launches many more.
NATA was founded by the late Professor Mavis Taylor, erstwhile head of UCT Drama Department and the CAPAB Theatre Company, whose passion for theatre and theatre education is legendary. Through the late nineteen-eighties and most of the nineties the institution grew informally, providing sophisticated, long term, acting training to scores of talented township men and women. In 1999, after the new NQF based education system was well entrenched, NATA smartened up its policies, procedures and curricula and became an accredited NQF level 5 Higher Education Provider. And it is currently working towards a level 6 Higher Diploma.
This is the context of NATA’s educational focus, philosophy and practice.

As a performing arts institution we do have a strong vocational focus. Because of who our students are, however, the institution must play a multi-faceted, redress conscious, role in their lives. We have to consider where they start from, what pathways are available to them and what will equip them for the journey from their varying degrees of destitution and dependency to a fulfilling, contributing future. This asks us to be more general, more holistic in our approach and our curriculum.

© New Africa

By now, in fact, our actual, if not yet declared mission, is to empower young people, rather than to turn out actors only. This means a number of deliberate additions to our curriculum like literacy, life skills, computer skills and microenterprise development. It also influences the principles built into our teaching methods such as an emphasis on self reflection, a multiple intelligence viewpoint and a facilitative style. The students themselves supply the other essential ingredients of life knowledge, hope, endless enthusiasm, motivation and talent. (This is not a sentimental observation; without these things even the finest principles cannot accomplish true education.)

The magical core of what we do, however, remains the creative subjects; the acting, improvising, dancing, singing activities.
Art itself asks a lot of questions, they say, but solves no problems.  That is why policy makers, bursary funders and parents keenly steer learners and students towards maths and sciences rather. Some thinking people are quietly observing now though that Arts Education, if not Art itself, does solve problems. Actually, it solves the biggest problems of all, the ones most linked to human frailties and limitations.
There is no doubt that discipline, application, endurance and determination are achieved through the practice of arts. Those achievements however are only the foundation onto which is built through constant exercise the nuance, the instinctive timing, the sensed accent of a phrase or gesture or note or shade of brown, the sensibilities and confident delivery that becomes a work of art.

So Arts education builds more than just the mind. With the enlivening of other faculties and intelligences comes the self-confidence the self-belief, the curiosity that allows people to respond to the world and to its challenges.

That makes it sound preparation for any kind of work. At NATA we have talked about this for many years. We know for certain that a large number of our graduates will not, and should not, end up in the Performing Arts industry. We are aware though that the performing arts they have learned and practiced with us has opened the window on a wider world, equipped them with strong personal voices, keen senses, and the courage, discipline and confidence to tackle the next leg of their journey.

Most, sadly not all, do manage to escape their inherited poverty. Over the years we have seen graduates become nurses, policemen, cashiers, hotel receptionists, entrepreneurs, events agents, development facilitators, teachers, interior decorators, secretaries, shop assistants,  public managers, child psychologist, environmentalists and many other things that have nothing or little to do with performing arts. And we have rejoiced.

Without their Arts Education, though, would they still be among the millions of adults with no qualifications and no prospects in the job markets?

Ian Bruce:
Ian Bruce was educated at Wits University and trained in drama at the Ruth Oppenheim Academy in Johannesburg. He began a career in theatre with The Company (Market Theatre) under Barney Simon and Mannie Mannim.

In 1976 he went into political exile in Europe. He co-founded the SA drama focused Thekwini Theatre in Amsterdam and was a founding committee member of the SA Cultural Community Centre through which SA artists were hosted in Holland.

He returned to SA in 1992 and worked mainly in development, most notably in the Northern Cape rural areas, until he joined New Africa Theatre Association in 1997.

Mr. Bruce is nationally and internationally known as an award winning playwright.

He and his wife, Ina, live in Kenilworth, Cape Town.

01 / life skills gained from learning to sing:

Our voice is our principal means of communication with the world around us; we shape words to communicate our thoughts and ideas. By changing our inflections and pitch we communicate our emotions. Without a voice we are, to a large extent, disconnected from the world.

Our voice is also a reflection of our well being as a whole – just think of the way you sound after you've had a sleepless night - it usually results in a raspy, hoarse voice.

Similarly the placement of a person's voice (ie, nasal, guttural, tight, too loud, too soft etc) usually indicates, in some way, how they feel about themselves:

To illustrate this let me tell you about a young lady whom I once taught. She had the tiniest voice I have ever heard and everything in her demeanour pointed to the fact that she saw herself as insignificant. I spent several months coaching her and found her progress slow. One day she arrived at her class and astonished me by producing a relatively loud, resonant voice. I immediately stopped her and asked her what was happening in her life presently; I discovered that she had for some time been unhappy in her marriage and had that week decided to divorce her husband. Her sense of freedom and empowerment were so evident in her general demeanor and this reflected in her booming voice. It was truly as if she'd "found her voice" in the world.

Some people come to me with a strained and strangled sound. When one starts to correct this, one discovers that it is usually the result of some repression in their past. I am not in the trade of practicing psychology and since my duty is primarily towards the voice I therefore focus more on the physical. However, in trying to rectify a strangled sound I always have to enter into a battle of wills with my students' body and by forcing the body to behave differently so that they can have a free voice, it compels the student to either face and release their past pain, or, at the very least, to confront and be aware of their behavior towards themselves.
So, when we start to free our voices we generally free and heal some part of ourselves. A person with a freed voice generally starts to feel better about themselves. and I have noted that all of my students who make vocal progress all start to see themselves in a better light and as a result start to take chances that they wouldn't have done previously – they advertise themselves, go to auditions and make plans for a future that hitherto would have been out of the question.

On the other hand, I have other students who are so completely immersed in the sound of their own voices that they don't hear what's going on around them. One student in particular confuses singing with shouting at the top of his voice, even though I have told him repeatedly that this is harmful to his vocal folds. He is so immersed in his own sound that he frequently ceases to listen to the piano with the result that he goes off pitch, usually going sharp. I can only assume that his disregard for everything but the sound of his own voice is in some way a reflection of how he goes about his daily life. This man is a challenge but I am determined to help him to stop and to listen to the world around him. Hopefully he will find his voice in the world without having to shout his way in. Hopefully he will realise that people listen to him because he's interesting, (which he is) not because he's loud.

So, in short, a free, well placed voice helps to create a confident, communicative individual.

Another important point is that most people, until they learn to sing, use only the upper part of the lung. This is called clavicular breathing due to the visible rising and falling movements of the chest. Clavicular breathing wastes energy. It is physically tiring because of the effort used in raising the chest. Also, it usually goes hand in hand with poor posture, it causes tension in the muscles of the chest, shoulders and neck area and it's ineffective because it tends to be shallow.

I am told that athletes use Clavicular breathing and apparently it is also a useful technique for gym enthusiasts. Not so with the voice. To sing you have to learn to use the whole of the lungs.
One of the major health risks in our modern world is the effects of stress. Recent studies have also shown that fast breathing is linked to high blood pressure. Usually the first method employed in learning to de-stress is learning to use the lungs completely and to employ deep breathing methods. Deep breathing releases endorphins, helps to clear and focus the mind and relax the body.

Quote: "Breathing deeply is a simple, effective addition to a healthy lifestyle. Chronic stress leads to quick, shallow breathing which then becomes a habit. Bringing conscious attention to our breath, lengthening and deepening the drawing in of oxygen, nourishes every cell of our body and promotes relaxation. Prolonged exhalation helps get rid of stale air and toxins in our lungs."

In her book, "Jump Start Your Metabolism: How to Lose Weight by Changing the Way you Breathe" (Fireside 1998) author Pam Grout says shallow breathing impoverishes the cells of the body and slows metabolism. "Without enough oxygen, your metabolism automatically slows down," says Grout. One way exercise increases metabolism is by increasing the oxygen to the cells."
From path2healthyliving.com

So, there you go. How lucky we are as singers; we habitually use all of our lungs, we imagine breathing right down into our pelvis or into "the peepee bone" as my late singing teacher called it.

So, get singing!

Christine Weir:
Christine has had a very varied career – she has worked as a musical theatre performer, as a lounge singer and as an actress both on stage and on TV. She studied Drama at the Pretoria Technikon and for 8 years took private singing lessons with Sarie Lamprecht.

She and her brother Graham were the founder members of Not the Midnight Mass which in 2009 celebrated its 21st birthday by doing a season at Peter Toerien’s Theatre on the Bay, and for which all the performers were awarded the Fleur de Cap Award for Best Performer in a Musical
Between 2002 and 2005 she was the soloist in the Sun City Extravaganza “Odyssey” and during this time she also worked as a lounge singer in the Sun City Casino. In 2007 she returned to the Sun City Casino to perform another season as a lounge singer.
In 2006 she performed her own solo show aboard the MS Melody which sailed from Naples to Durban and in the same year she performed with an orchestra in Songs from the Mediterranean at the Johannesburg Civic Theatre, conducted by Graham Scott.  She received a Naledi Best Performer Nomination for Songs from the Mediterranean.

Christine and pianist/performer Godfrey Johnson regularly join forces and perform the hilarious Tainted Love which will be seen at the Alma Cafe in February and also As Noel and Marlene which is written and directed by Pieter Dirk Uys and will be performed at the Rainbow room in 2011.

In May 2011 Not the Midnight Mass will perform a new season at The Baxter Theatre.

She teaches singing and regularly hosts singing workshops. For more information visit christineweir.co.za

01 / educating through dance:

Educating the Body

For me education is about using all of your abilities to their utmost capacity for the benefit of your self and everyone around you.  In order to enhance what might be natural abilities you need to acquire knowledge and skills in order to communicate and share that knowledge with others.

Movement is one of the original methods of communication and was in use long before speech.  When you watch people you often form an opinion of what they are like as a result of 'their body language’. How people use their body to move is often indicative of what their state of mind is as well as their perspective of how they see themselves. A positive presentation of self and an awareness of what impression you are creating in the work place is important and good posture is immediately noticeable.

Ballet is a disciplined training of mind and body for the creation of elegant and controlled movement to music.  It can be used to tell a story, express an emotion and is a universal method of communication that crosses all verbal barriers. It is a natural way of moving as the movements dancers achieve are only able to be executed because of the range of joints that muscles can move bones. Ballet dancers simply extend the range of movement of their bodies to the utmost degree through stretching, strengthening and repetitive practising.

Annique Pienaar, dancer with Dance Crew
© Ewart-Mouton

Gareth du Toit, dancer, ballet teacher and member of
Dance Crew © Ewart-Mouton

The positive results of good ballet training are many and varied for all those who attend classes and not necessarily only for those who achieve professional dancer status.  By good training I mean a teacher who is applying sound and anatomically correct principles with artistic integrity for the benefit of the dancers.

The posture of a ballet dancer is important with the limbs placed in positions that aid movement.  Muscles are strengthened and tendons stretched in order to be able to move the body into the necessary positions required of it when dancing. Lung capacity is increased as the inter-costal muscles (muscles between the ribs) have to extend as do muscles in the abdominal and spinal areas.  The head has to be carefully and correctly balanced on the top of the spinal cord.  All these requirements for aligning the spine are essential for healthy living.

Co-ordination and focus are two of the immediate benefits that spring to mind. (No pun intended)  The use of the eyes not only to watch and learn but also to give direction when travelling and turning is incredibly important when dancing. As it is when driving a car, using machinery or tools of all kinds and reading information whether it is in printed form, computers, television. Young children often struggle to learn at school through inattentive eyes and not knowing where to look or why they should be looking.

The second level of co-ordination is when dancers work in groups or with partners and have to not only co-ordinate their bodies in time to the so important musical aspect but also to co-ordinate their body in time to other bodies.

Spacial awareness is another vital attribute for a dancer and developing a good understanding of space around them in the different dimensions is a critical area of learning. Again as it is when driving vehicles especially heavy duty ones where you need to be very aware of not only the road on either side of you but what is above you – if your vehicle is higher than a standard car height.  Think of accidents that are caused when vehicles are driven into overhead bridges through lack of spacial judgement. Parking accidents due to misjudgement of where the car is in relationship to other cars or objects or worse still to people are often cause by this lack of special awareness.

Educating the Mind

The whole of the educational process is further enhanced by the use of music.  Choreographing to different music further educates dancers as to varying styles and the cultures that influenced that life style. Our history and our lives can be traced through the music and dance, and the literature and art of any specific time. Ballet is a composite art embracing all of the art forms to create something new and to enhance how we see life around us.

01 / to play or not to play:

In his recent book on Galileo, the father of modern science J. R. Heilbron asserts that Galileo's musical abilities strongly influenced his early work on motion and astronomy. This comes as no surprise given the number of articles and pieces of research that have appeared in the last few years concerning the impact of music on other areas of learning and more particularly, the benefits derived from learning a musical instrument.

In my view it is vitally important that the creative side of a person's development is nurtured to help balance the dominance of technology in our world today. One of the ways to do this is to learn a musical instrument.

Music lesson © Education Museum

Most of us who teach require no convincing that music, in some form or another, is a good thing. As an experienced piano and theory teacher I have been able to make some observations on the benefits of learning the piano that I would like to share.

At the start it is important to state that learning an instrument ( in this case the piano) is not a short term commitment, but is immensely rewarding if the student puts energy, time and loving dedication into it. To get the most from a musical education the student needs to practise regularly, read widely, and open him/herself to the  musical experiences all around. In return the rewards will be great.

Playing an instrument and learning the theory that accompanies it requires self- discipline and concentration, both valuable tools in other avenues of life. Confidence, especially for those who do exams and perform regularly is something which develops and grows with time and often results in good self -esteem and and a positive  self-perception. Self control, memory and communication skills are all enhanced by the experience of learning an instrument and the creative thinking required in interpreting a piece of music stretches and improves the imagination of the student. Many students learn to relax and express emotions more easily and openly when they have played an instrument. In addition listening skills are essential to being a musical instrumentalist and the theory of music requires focus,accuracy and logic. When students reach the study of harmony, lateral thinking and musical creativity are added to this incredible mix of skills. I have found that nearly all my piano students are hardworking, energetic and outgoing , do very well at school and go on to do well in tertiary education too. The majority of my adult pupils are professional people in possession of university degrees.

However,  the greatest rewards are the life-enriching experience that music endows on the recipient and the happiness that so many students feel when they are able to sit down and play for themselves or an audience, be it in a concert hall or an old age home. Music is for life and the experience of learning an instrument stays with one forever.