Jungle Theatre Presents:
Carnival Parade workshop for kids
Children from diverse communities in and around Muizenberg get
together in a creative arts workshop and Carnival Parade performance.
I live in Muizenberg with my wife and three children. Often on weekends we’ll be walking around the Vlei or the beach with our dogs. We’ll come across a group of children who are visiting Muizenberg and have walked from Vryground or Lavander hill. They are not with their parents and they look a bit lost. My children look at them and they look at my children. We know we are neighbours but it seems like we come from different worlds. I bring out a soccer ball, I trick the children into making teams that mix them up. I tie the dogs up to a bench. We play a game of soccer. It’s an immense amount of fun to break down the barriors that seem to be between us and we share a common game.
Other children passing by see the game and also want to join and the teams grow in size. Only when we are exhausted do we stop playing. The ball is returned to my hands. We say good bye and go our separate ways. It was fun but it’s over and we didn’t even get to know each other names .We are not going to plan the next one because the visitors are all children and this type of thing can only happen spontaneously. This made me think. Does living in these separate worlds not bread fear? Is this separation not at the root of poverty and crime? What can I do to break down barriers between our “worlds”?
Enter the fantastic super hero Jungle Theatre Company! I happen to be the founder and artistic director of this non-profit organization.
We have been working with children from diverse communities for 18 years. Last year we brought children from Westlake, Vrygrond and Muizenberg together to make a performance about Zandvlei and the impact of litter. This inter-cultural workshop was funded by the HCI & Cape 300 Foundations. This year we would like to offer the public an opportunity to support the workshop. This year will be our first Thundafund campaign. It will give pro- active citizens the power to effect change. It will give children of greater Muizenberg a workshop that would consciously set out to bring our children together. A space for us to connect, create something together and then share it with the community.
Creating a space for parents, guardians and concerned citizens to back talented children from “different” worlds and supporting their participation in a collaborative carnival workshop. A team of experienced professional artists could facilitate these groups getting together for a whole day, getting to know each other and creating performance art together. The theme of the four elements will be explored within the context of Muizenberg and sharing what they created with the wider community in a parade and performance. The participating could they become role models. They could be an inspiration to others to reach out.
Jungle Theatre could be given an opportunity to identify talented and passionate individuals who could be invited to come back to ongoing workshops taking the artistic development further. They will be making costumes, dancing and singing, using puppets and celebrating Muizenberg together. The workshop will prepare the children to take part in the Muizenberg Carnival Parade together with a range of other performing groups.
This will break down barriers, mix it up, build a common community and celebrate our Muizenberg!
Milestones
Milestone 1 – R6500
The Tipping Point
We would be able to facilitate a workshop for 15 participants.
Milestone 2 – R10 550
We would be able to facilitate a workshop for 30 participants.
Milestone 3 – R15 000
We would be able to facilitate a workshop for 50 participants.
Help us bring the community together!
Buy Rewards and share the crowdfunding campaign: www.thundafund.com/JungleTheatre
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info@jungletheatre.co.za