Fine Arts Weekend

We have survived our very first Fine Arts competition. We went to district competition in Grand Rapids this weekend and our Fine Arts group did really, really well. Cerah received a superior with invitation for her puppetry solo which means she did well enough that she gets to go to Nationals. She also received the merit award for her solo, which means that the coaches considered it the top presentation in the district, which happens to be the entire state of Michigan. Morgan and Cerah received a superior with invitation and the merit award for their puppetry group presentation. They scored an almost perfect score (119 out of 120) so they were invited to be the first group to perform after the competition. During the celebration ceremony the merit award winners are recognized and the first 8 acts get to perform. Morgan also received a superior with invitation for her human video group. Anthony received a superior with invitation and the merit award for his human video group. He also received a superior with invitation for his drama group. Everybody keeps telling us that it's very rare for first year kids to receive merit awards and all three of ours did so we are very happy.

We started the night out with Choir. Here they are waiting to go on

 Then we moved on to the puppetry group. This is their practice ahead of time

After that Cerah had her puppetry solo

Rob decided to get plugged in

 Back to the hotel for dinner and more practice for Morgan and Anthony. Hannah and Cerah took advantage of the quiet and fell asleep.

5:00 a.m. Time to get up and go again. Rob decided it was too early

Morgan thought so too, but I was ready to go 

 Some of the kids in our group were awake, others were just trying to stay awake

 Food in their tummies and now they are good to go

Morgan's Human Video group went first

Yay, they did it. I think they are happy.

Anthony's Human Video group performed a little later

And also seem quite happy

 We had time to go outside and eat lunch

 Then we went and checked out the visual art

 We also had about an hour break between watching our other groups perform so we went out and got some sunshine

Apparently he needs more to keep him busy

Finally, it's time to see who goes on to Nationals



See, there we are - Shelby Twp. Lakeside

 Cerah even got her own screen

 Group picture now that they can relax

Cerah and Morgan's puppetry group along with Pastor Ryan - the youth pastor and the puppetry coach

 Anthony's human video group showing off their medals

 Ready to go home! Doesn't it look like they had a great time?

I think we all did. 



Fine Arts Puppet

Over the last few weeks we have been working on the puppet that Cerah is going to be using for the Fine Arts puppetry solo. District competition is next weekend in Grand Rapids so wish us luck with that.  For now I thought you might want to see the puppet. Before you do, though, let me explain how it's going to work otherwise you will be really confused.
The song Cerah is setting her routine to is City on the Hill by Casting Crowns. It talks about a city on a hill that once shown bright but then lost it's light because the city turned on itself. "The poets thought the dancers were shallow, the soldiers thought the poets were weak, the elders thought the young ones were foolish, and the rich man never heard the poor man speak." And so the city slowly fades away. "But it was the rhythm of the dancers that gave the poets life, it was the spirit of the poets that gave the soldiers strength to fight, it was the fire of the young ones, it was the wisdom of the old, it was the story of the poor man that needed to be told." And so they slowly come back and the city becomes strong again.

The first step was to cut out the seven panels that would comprise the city

Next, we made sure they would fit the way they should

After that Rob glued the panels onto some wood to make them firmer

And then attached that wood to a longer piece of wood that would then attach to gliders

Like this. He did it this way so that Cerah could move the panels back and forth

Once finished, he set them on a larger piece of wood to make sure they fit on there correctly

Then we took them apart and covered them with different fabrics to represent the various people in the song

And then we covered the main part of the city with orange and borrowed a puppet head from the church. We also painted all the wood black so that none of it would show

Everything was done so that it would work under black light. Once the fabric was done we started working on the smaller puppets and making a curtain on either side to hide the panels

Ballerina shoes to represent the dancers; a book and quill to represent the poets; outline of a soldier; rich man bent over from the weight of his money; a woman begging in the streets; an old man sitting on a park bench; and an ipod to represent the young people.

Here's the finished product under black light - this is what the audience will see

 

Left side view

Middle view

Right side view

Cerah with her puppet

During the song she can turn the puppets around and they will disappear in the black lights

The panels slide out and are hidden behind the curtain

Cerah moving one of the panels

Now all that is left is the main puppet.

At the end she can bring them all back again.