On February 19th, the Contamination Session of the En Residència project by Mar García and Javi Soler took place at Institut La Sedeta, with 4th-year ESO students and the collaboration of teachers Albert Bassas and Sílvia Masdeu.
In the days leading up to the session, the students reflected on what it would mean to show what they had been working on to the rest of the teaching staff. There were nerves as well as excitement; most reflections captured this ambivalence:
Expectation because we don’t know for sure what will happen; I’m looking forward to seeing what the teachers think; I’m excited because I don’t know how they will react or what they expect; I want to do it but at the same time I feel embarrassed; I hope many teachers come and that it’s a great success; I’m really looking forward to showing the choreography to the teachers; I’m excited but I feel a bit of embarrassment and pressure; I’m very nervous about showing what we’ve been working on in front of the teachers, but at the same time I’m eager to see how everything will turn out.
Before starting, the teaching staff were invited to share some refreshments, and then the students presented several scenes of what they have been working on: a very careful and complex score-based work with voice, gesture, body, and objects that left the audience amazed. After the presentation, a conversation about the creative process was opened, where teachers were able to ask questions and reflect together with the students. Questions arose about the origin of the ideas, how they felt performing the score, what wishes they had for continuing the creative process, etc.; and they were also congratulated on the work accomplished. Truly a collective stage work by the whole group that shows great promise!
