Photo Diary Spring Workshop

THINGS WE EXPERIENCED IN DRIENICA
First Spring Workshop, 29. 4. 2010 – 2. 5. 2010

And it was time for the first joint workshop. Hours of preparation behind us, we are entering the Javorná hotel in Drienica. There are expectations and maybe even some fear in all concerned.

How many of us were there? Approximately 100 children from Jarovnice, 29 children from the Divé maky program, 11 artists and educators, 7 tutors, 7 staff from Divé maky and PRO DONUM. Enough people to let everyone in the hotel know something extraordinary was happening.

The well coordinated trio of Ida Kelarová, Desiderius Dužda and Tomáš Kačo led the singing workshop. They were greatly assisted by the children who have already been participating in the Divé maky program. The shyness and embarrassment of the Jarovnice bunch seemed to slowly dissolve. “If you want to stay here, you have to work hard to get better – is that clear”? This is just one example how “Aunt Ida” can speak to children's souls.

“You will be singing solos, we will make solo artists out of you. You know who a solo artist is? At the final performance each of you will sing your own song.” Shaky voices slowly gather up confidence. And more voices join. Children wish to learn from one another, they wish to explore each other's world.

The musical workshop was led by Lukáš Goroľ. He was in charge of three children – two of them were learning to play from the scratch. Every once in a while he was joined by Desiderius Dužda and they all kept their noses to the grindstone.

“Now we will all introduce each other. This is me, Gabika. I was born in Prešov and now I live in Bratislava.” Through their works of visual art Gabika lets the children get acquainted with each other. After initial ice-breakers they set off outdoors to select plants. They all have the task to draw their respective plants and paint them with watercolors. On Saturday the children drew layouts of their bodies and then painted them. Gabika did this exercise previously with the children of the Waldorf Elementary in Bratislava. The second step was an exchange of drawings. The children from the Jarovnice settlement and from the Divé maky program got to work on the background for layouts of children from Bratislava – and the Bratislava children will do the same for the Jarovnice children. The goal is to submit the works into the Two Faces of One World contest.

Actors started with a reading session. “First we create our own skit, and then we learn how to perform texts and how to direct.” The instructors Ferko Balog and Naďa Uherová want this to be something the children can consider their own. They also dispense with practical advice: “When they act you have to focus. The director would never let you comment on other people's acting.” The children learned how to perceive each other in space, and how to think theatrically. They will prepare two skits for the final performance – Love as a Dog and A Key in the Bar.

The dancers, they dance for life. Latino, Romany dances, Michael Jackson – the dance workshop leader Lacko Cmorej can turn any music into a thriller. There is no wonder that this workshop progressed into a true Gipsy style entertainment on Saturday.

The sports workshop was only attended by the boys from Jarovnice. They were coached by Danka Dlugošová who just knows how to handle kids. The first day of Friday was the day of soccer – well, what else. The winning team from among the four participating was the FC Roma team. The afternoon was spent with volleyball and a hiking trip to the Lysá mountain. On Saturday we held the Mini-Olympics. The fastest Divé maky student was Miroslav Bandy (the 100 meters sprint at 14.35 seconds (the last line in the middle on the picture). The orienteering race was won by Radoslav Giňa at the record-breaking 52 seconds (the last line on the right on the picture). The sports coach Ján Mihálik took great pride in his boys.

THE FINAL SHOWCASE

On Sunday at around lunchtime the children prepared a showcase of what they learned. There was pride, there was joy, and there were even some tears… Then there was a joint choir song and the end was approaching. We shared a lot of experience in the four days. But what was the most important was that the Divé maky children started to pass on what they learned over to the children of Jarovnice.

THANK YOU!