I’ll Take You Through the Streets of London

By Stella Ruggeberg Staff Reporter The Pawprint

“Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London,”  sang Ralph McTell. The students had a great time enjoying the wonderful city of London, England. Dubai American Academy (DAA), gives students the opportunity each year to visit different countries for a theater workshop by an organization called Theatre arts Programme Symposium (TaPS). Schools from all over the world join this program giving them chance to meet new people with the same interests. It also allows them to work with older and more experienced people who can make a great influence on their lives of the students. TaPS was held in London this year and students not only got to enjoy the wonderful city, but also the people and workshops. Junior Liam Wigle said, “I enjoyed the opportunity to meet new people and learn from professionals.”

All schools were mixed and grouped into different Ensembles so that the students got to work with other students from other countries. In these Ensembles, the students learned a variety of theatrical skills such as Capoeira, theatre of cruelty, an introduction to playwriting, theatre and health education, clowning, visualizing the heartbeat, and music theatre. “My favorite workshop was clowning because it used techniques that produced laughter, and that the performer depended on the audience’s response to proceed further,” said Junior Mehan Lategan

In the evenings the students went to watch plays such as, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and Liola. “There were many amazing highlights of the trip. The one highlight I will constantly recall as my favorite would be when we rode the tube back to the hotel after watching The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at the theatre in Leicester Square. Everyone was so mellow, yet shocked at the riveting performances we had all just witnessed. It was amazing,” said Sophomore Ali Hassani.