Melbourne Arts Tour

Last week, 12 students and three staff members travelled to Melbourne for the annual Arts Tour. Armed with comfortable shoes, umbrellas and a whole lot of enthusiasm, we were ready to see what Melbourne had to offer!

The first performance we saw was ‘Kinky Boots the Musical’. Using the music of Cyndi Lauper, ‘Kinky Boots’ was a hilarious story, full of energy and messages of acceptance. The students loved the performance and had fun taking photos in kinky boots after the show.

Saturday began with a trip to St Kilda, where students divided their time between eating along the famous Acland Street and visiting Luna Park. From here, we travelled to the Malthouse Theatre to watch the play, ‘Backstage In Biscuitland’, which tells the true story of a young woman living with Tourette’s Syndrome. While both very real and confronting on many levels, it delivered a powerful message of acceptance that kept students talking for hours after the performance. Next came some relaxed shopping time followed by dinner at the Blue Train Café. To finish the evening, we went to the Eureka Skydeck, which, at 300 metres high, is the tallest public viewing platform in the Southern Hemisphere. Eight of our group were brave enough to do ‘The Edge’ experience, which suspended them three metres out from the building in a totally glass box. Those not brave enough to do this enjoyed the view of the Yarra River and Melbourne by night.

Sunday started with an early morning Street Art Tour of Melbourne. While travelling through the back alleys of Melbourne, it was clear that the art counter-culture was alive and well, with people using every available space to create stunning works of art, intermingled with poignant political statements. This was followed by a trip to Melbourne University, where we watched two musical performances. The first was a piano duet, played on two beautiful Steinway grand pianos, featuring ‘The Planets’ by Gustav Holst and a ballet written by Percy Grainger. The second performance was guitar and percussion based experimental music written by Percy Grainger. Students were intrigued by the experimental techniques used, including bowing a vibraphone, playing guitars with pencils threaded between the strings and the use of pedals and effects we had not heard before.

By Sunday night, we had our first glimpse of the famed Melbourne weather! We travelled by tram through the rain out to Docklands where we watched ‘Vertical Influences’, which was a hip-hop dance performance on ice. Although chilly, we were enthralled by the grace and ease with which five Canadian performers delivered their breath-taking performance.

Monday dawned bright and sunny again, in time for us to walk to the National Gallery of Victoria where we spent time immersed in some of the most stunning works the gallery has to offer. From here, it was back to the airport for the trip home.

Although tired, 13 happy students were returned to their parents on Monday night. Mrs Janine Delaney, Mr Adrian King and Mrs Aleisha Tuaine were so impressed with the students, who did a fantastic job of representing Pacific as we moved about Melbourne. Thanks for the fantastic weekend!

Mrs Aleisha Tuaine, Head of Music