Amidst deadlines and the IOCs of the IB, the task of bringing together their entire house and do something culturally fabulous was given to the house captains of the Agni, Pavan, Jal and Prithvi houses.
The theme of ‘Inter-house Cultural, 2019’ was “Kingdoms” for the students of Middle and High School and “Dream City” for the students of the Primary School. Since the limiting reagent in the whole equation was time, planning was key. Once the themes were announced to the captains of the respective houses, they got together with their house members and formed core teams for script writing, Music, dance, Props, lighting, sound, and sometimes even for “audience participation”.
A whole range of “21st century skills” were on display as teams planned how to showcase their kingdom as unique, and the dialogues reflected citizens of kingdoms being socially egalitarian, having sustainable ways of living, and having a keen sense of economic management. To the audience, many of the performances were eye-openers and every performance gave deep insight into the immense social responsibility carried by our future generations. Similar ideals served as pillars for the performances from Primary school performances and the judges along with the audience were enthralled by the models they had created of their dream city and the performances they had staged.
At the end of a power-packed day, many teachers reflected on how things went and the predominant thoughts were that our learners have raised the bar and have touched newer heights in terms of producing high quality scripts, dialogues, acting, dancing, singing, and making props for their plays. Though one house emerged as a winner, the mutual appreciation every house members had for their friends in other houses served as an indicator that all our learners were in perfect alignment to the motto of KC High, “CARE, COLLABORATE, CATALYSE AND CREATE”.
The Interhouse Culturals events 2019- a myriad of emotions indeed! This being our last culturals event, my co-captain Ankitha and I wanted to make this the most memorable and exciting one yet! And so we started- we first split the whole group into various categories such as music, dance, theater and props according to their interests. Soon we started working on the script, but we did face a couple of set-backs while writing it. Yet, as a team, I’d say we worked pretty well to overcome these and come up with a creative yet intelligent way to express our version of the kingdom that we would like to portray! Our concept revolved around geniocracy- the rule of the intelligent. We wanted to use a style of governance that was not quite common, and so this perfectly fit into what we had in mind. Thus, the Geniocracy of Yieun Kim was born.
The last 2 days of preparation, were by-far the most exhilarating yet stressful days; the dance team were trying to choreograph the perfect steps, the music team were trying to compose the most apt tune for the setting of the play, the theater group learning their lines, and the props team designing all of the other requirements of the play! Nevertheless, it began to take shape on Thursday afternoon, when we attempted to do our first rehearsal. There were several hiccups though, (*boys dance cough cough*!), Despite this, everyone gave it their best efforts. Before we went on stage for the final show, we had a team huddle. These 2 minutes, were definitely one of the biggest highlights in the whole process; the whole team coming together and supporting each other, not here just to win but to also have fun and learn from the whole experience! I think the decibel levels of our screams right after the group huddle said it all! Although we did not come first, all of us thoroughly enjoyed the process and will definitely cherish these experiences. It was definitely a great way to conclude our last inter house culturals event!
– Saadhana Seshadri (Grade 12)
Our last inter-house culturals. Wow. I’d been taking part in these events for nearly 6 years now, and this year marked the last time we would participate.
This year, however, I was not just participating, but I was captaining the Pavan (yellow) house.
This was certainly not an easy task, but it was an extremely rewarding one. With a multitude of personalities in our house, from loud, to over-ambitious, to quiet, to stubborn, we went extremes to get our house under control! Late nights of scriptwriting, scrambling to rehearse outside school hours, and complex dance routines- we were determined to put up a good show! Of course, I did end up losing my voice by the end of the inter-house, but such times, we’re willing to make such compromises!
The Kingdom which Pavan decided to depict was a Geniocracy, a rule by the intelligent. We brought in the idea of an examination to determine the governing body. We had underlying tones of rebellion all throughout our play. With art being central to the culture of our kingdom, our citizens protested for a more inclusive examination- which examined both logic and creativity. Dance pieces were central to our play. With hip-hop, Bollywood and lyrical pieces, we aimed to display the diversity of our Geniocracy.
Whilst being captain and helping with the direction of our play, I also participated in some of the dances and theatre. This proved a challenging task, as it required me to remain focused on the task at hand despite the numerous opportunities for distraction! This also gave me an opportunity to hone my skills as a leader, but at the same time, not seem domineering.
Despite not winning, the experience was an unforgettable one. As we wound up the play, my co-captain and I realised that this would be our last opportunity to participate in the culturals:( Despite this tinge of sadness, we felt accomplished!
We know that next year, Pavan will put up a great (if not better) show! Make us proud, you all:)
– Ankitha Praveen (Grade 12)
