Miss Abigail’s thought for the week: the power of performance
This morning we hosted our annual talent show and the quality of the acts was stunningly high. Such courage, such imagination, such personality and such real talent – what a very lucky school we are. Some of the children performing today are children who love the limelight and the very nature of performing to an audience is one of their talents. But for others, the bravery that it takes to get up in front of that enormous sea of faces – that blows me away every time.
The acts that performed today very incredibly varied and provided the audience with a great mix of genres and styles. They were well-rehearsed (which I’m sure wasn’t at all stressful at home…!) and excited and lots had big butterflies in their tummies. Their performances were really excellent – making me smile, cry, laugh out loud and gasp in amazement.
There are, of course, many other children with talents in our school who did not perform today – either because they were not selected or because they didn’t put themselves forward. Some will have felt disappointed by this and, to them, I say: keep trying, keep practising and don’t give up (because things worth having often don’t come easily). And to those who didn’t feel brave enough to try, I say: sometimes the most precious and wonderful things happen when you push yourself out of your comfort zone. And perhaps we grown-ups have a thing or two to learn from that too…
Performance involves developing a great set of skills. It enables children to work on their confidence and presentation skills but it also helps them to manage nerves, embrace risk and failure, as well as experiencing the sheer exhilaration of an audience’s reaction to a fantastic performance. In addition, practising and rehearsing for something special like this teaches children the discipline and craftsmanship needed to achieve the satisfaction of a job well done.
At Nadeen, we are a family of many nations and a community of diverse talents, strengths and gifts, and what a pleasure it was today to be reminded of some of these.
