The Year 3-6 Dance Group at Holy Spirit Catholic Primary (pictured) outshone a tough line up at the 2024 Sydney Catholic Schools Eisteddfod last week, to take out first place in their category.
They are among the hundreds of primary and secondary students from across the Archdiocese of Sydney taking to the stage to perform across an array of categories from April to June including vocal, instrumental, drama and dance.
Now in its fourth year, the event has attracted more than 1,300 registrations across solo and ensemble performance categories.
Students from Eileen O’Connor Catholic College Lewisham, which caters for students with moderate intellectual disabilities, will perform in the secondary choir event for the first time this year.
New to the program is a gospel choir section and an infant’s dance section for students from Kindergarten to Year 2, bringing dance performance opportunities to all primary and high school students in the system for the first time this year.
“There is deep research that shows that arts education and participation in the arts can lead to improved cognitive, social, and behavioural outcomes in early childhood, adolescence and throughout life,” said Sydney Catholic Schools’ Manager: Performing and Visual Arts, Danielle Fuller.
This year’s adjudicators include James Bryce, who received an OAM for services to music education and performance in 2022, and Opera Australia’s Assistant Chorus Master Michael Curtain and sopranos Clarissa Spata and Jane Eade.
Artistic director, choreographer and NIDA tutor Virginia Ferris who has created hundreds of events both nationally and internationally is also among the 26 adjudicators to this years’ Eisteddfod.
This year, students from 125 schools will take part in solo and ensemble performances across 25 days.