By Jagmeeta Thind Joy

It’s a treat for the senses – from the bright artworks dotting the classrooms, the dramatic interpretation of soul-stirring poems and passages, telling photographs dotting the corridors to the foot-tapping musical melodies being sung in the amphitheatre. The Middle School students, backed by the support of their teachers at Strawberry Fields High School, have indeed done themselves proud.

The two-day line-up, which opened to parents and grandparents on December 19, is not only interactive but offers everyone a peek into the lives and creativity of students from classes five to eight. And as the school’s Principal Sangeeta Sekhon reiterated once again that this was not a show of perfection but an insight into the learning process of the students. So not only were doors open to all classrooms for all parents to view the creative canvas of each student across age-groups, they also got a chance to see the dramatic skills of young students.

Moving away from the traditional format of one speaker or act at one time, it was nice to see that each participant was involved in the other performer’s act. Even though it was a one man act, it seemed cohesive as one large production. The poems and passages were  well chosen, touching upon various emotions – from humour to anger, angst to patriotism. From Macbeth, Chanakya, Karan and Kunti to Marc Anthony and Bhagat Singh…the students essayed the roles and dialogue delivery with perfection. The dramatic interpretation was in both Hindi and English.

Steering clear from the predictable forms of art, the canvases on display introduced visitors to various artists from around the world and their techniques. Students worked on composition using stick figures, learnt techniques like pointillism, stippling, Zentangle, relief art using foil, newspaper art, optical illusion, cyanotype, aboriginal art and more.

For the visitors too it was a unique opportunity to learn about artists like Henri Emile Benoit Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky, George Seurat, Piet Mondrian and see how the students have translated it into their own work.

Keeping everyone in good spirits and matching the creative mood were singers and musicians from the Middle School who kept going all through the day.

There were renditions of popular English numbers steered by the school’s Western music teachers. It was a wonderful and engaging presentation into little minds and their world of art across forms.

The presentation is on till December 20 at Strawberry Fields High School, Sector 26, Chandigarh.