GEORGIA — To celebrate the beginning of school and the power of art programs, Georgia Elementary and Middle School and Burlington’s The Flynn are inviting the community for a night of whimsical fun.
The free entertainment show, “Playing Fields,” is heading to GEMS at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. “Playing Fields” is a back-to-school celebration show traveling to school districts across the state.
This year, the show is bringing a “circus” to the field with the Cirque Kikasse, an event out of a food truck. Performers will be juggling apples from local orchards and there will trampoline acts aplenty on top of and around the snack window they serve food out of.
There will also be a brass band, the West Philadelphia Orchestra, roaming the field and large building blocks called “Let’s Twist” that will allow the younger kids a hands-on experience.
That idea of play is central to the “Playing Fields” program, executive director of The Flynn Jay Wahl said.
“The idea of play has so many variances,” he said. “When you think about play in terms of the arts you think about reading lines together or when you play music; the ways in which we play together is so interesting. There is something important about being in that place where kids are allowed to play and where the arts can play with them.”
The show travels across Vermont, Wahl said, because sometimes, “wonder and joy” have to come to people instead of them finding their way to it.
These performances are not just for fun, but are a reaction to what Wahl heard from other school districts. The Flynn met with school leaders after the COVID-19 pandemic, and they heard frustration, anxiety and an overall depressing feeling from staff and teachers.
“We started thinking, ‘What can we do that brings joy into schools and the community?’ It’s not more complicated than that,” he said. “Sometimes the arts kick open an unexpected door, and that’s good.”
GEMS’ director of teaching and learning Karen Lehning said the school is really excited to be partnered with The Flynn. The Playing Fields organizers reached out to schools looking to volunteer at the same time GEMS were considering restarting its theater program.
“It came at a good time for us,” Lehning said. “We thought it would be really cool to get people excited about arts and theater so the timing lined up for us. We really hope it sparks interest amongst our school community to get into the theater. ”
GEMS is starting basic theater classes during the fall term, but Lehning said the school is hoping to put on a full show in the spring.
Although organizers hope the event inspires a theater production, Lehning said it is also a time to celebrate back-to-school with the community. Three weeks in falls in the range when people are excited to be back in school, she said, and it also allows the school to celebrate the arts with the community.
Schools are an important piece of Vermont, and Wahl said he hopes the show can get everyone to sit together at the school, the heart of many communities. Each show is a product of the area the performers go to, and Wahl said this makes each show unique.
“What happens at Georgia can only happen there,” he said.
A lot of community events happen around schools, and the arts play a part in that as well. The biggest barrier to the show is just having people show up and be together as a community, Wahl said. Everything about why the arts matter and why Vermont communities matter show up in an event like this.
The school really is the heart of the community, especially in Georgia, Luhning said. Many people gather at the school for a variety of events.
“The Georgia community is incredibly supportive. People come out when there is an event,” she said. “I think continuing to expand opportunities to have local communities see what we do here but also come out and be together is really important here and to the broader community.”
The school has offered an invitation to Fairfax and Fletcher families as well as the greater Georgia community as a whole.
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Publish date : 2024-09-03 09:00:00
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