ABU DHABI // “I like it, I like it, I like it!” This was eight-year-old Mia Bongiovanni’s reaction as she tugged at her mother’s arms after taking part in the first glee club at The Music Hub class yesterday.
Inspired by the popular US television comedy show Glee, the programme teaches children performing arts through contemporary music and Broadway show tunes.
The club’s organiser is Stephanie Sell, who admits to being a diehard “Gleek”, the term to describe fans of the show.
“I wanted to do something similar to what I taught back in England, which was Stagecoach, where they came and they did an hour of drama, an hour of singing, an hour of dance. I wanted to kind of condense that into one session and make it a singing club with a difference,” said Ms Sell, a 30-year-old Briton.
Mia was one of about 24 children to pile into a brightly lit classroom at the new music school to take part in what is thought to be the first glee club in the capital.
“I was just waiting for them to come out and give me the thumbs up,” said Mia’s mother, Deb Waldman, whose older daughter, Cecilia Bongiovanni, 9, was also in the class.
“I figured they would like it. They just love singing. They’re always with their friends, dancing and singing, so I thought they might as well try it.”
The hour-long class started by playing an icebreaker drama game called Whoosh. The giggling children stood in a circle as they passed an invisible ball to each other and yelled out sound effects like whoosh, ba-doing and zap.
“I’m looking for drama, I’m looking for enthusiasm,” Ms Sell said to the class, which included one boy.
The group then crowded around a piano where Ms Sell led them through a voice-warming exercise.
“Why do you think we should warm our voices before we sing?” Ms Sell asked Isabella, a pupil.
“So you can sing high and low,” Isabella said.
“To clear our voices?” asked another pupil. “To make sure we’re comfortable with what we’re singing?” said another.
“Yes, all those answers are right,” Ms Sell said. “Our voice is a muscle. So the same way we have muscles in our arms, in our legs, you wouldn’t go and run a race without warming up your body first, so we don’t go and sing songs without warming up our voices, because if you do, you can damage it.”
With that, the children followed Ms Sell’s lead and hummed the G note in unison. They then went on to sing warm-up songs like Boogie Woogie Washer Woman and another about Indian food.
Ms Sell said her glee club was meant to combine singing, dance and drama in one comprehensive class. At the end of the 14-week programme, the children will stage a production.
“This is not just about learning to be the best performer,” she said. “The thing with drama and the performing arts is there are other skills that you learn, life skills, like confidence, how to work as part of a team, there are all those skills that maybe aren’t so obvious that they will take away from this.
“So, it’s not just about who’s the best singer, who’s the best dancer, it’s about who can work as part of a team, and you know their confidence will grow.”
By the end of the class, the pupils were belting out Katy Perry’s Roar with such enthusiasm, the parents packed in the hallway stopped talking to pay attention. One pulled out her iPhone to record the moment. They rewarded the children with applause at the end of the class.
Ms Sell said the overwhelming response from the community had prompted her to offer three classes, one for children ages 6 to 9, another for 10 to 13, and a third for 14 and over.
The Music Hub, which hosts the glee club, also offers private and group music lessons to children and adults.
Music Hub owner Yana Welch said she knew there was a demand for a performing arts programme in Abu Dhabi, but did not anticipate the popularity of the glee club.
“This is great,” she said of the overflowing rooms filled with parents registering their children. “I didn’t expect that there would be that many people coming. It’s fabulous to see that many.
“I don’t think there is any other school which is offering a similar educational programme as we do.”
rpennington@thenational.ae
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The schedule
December 5 - 23: Shooting competition, Al Dhafra Shooting Club
December 9 - 24: Handicrafts competition, from 4pm until 10pm, Heritage Souq
December 11 - 20: Dates competition, from 4pm
December 12 - 20: Sour milk competition
December 13: Falcon beauty competition
December 14 and 20: Saluki races
December 15: Arabian horse races, from 4pm
December 16 - 19: Falconry competition
December 18: Camel milk competition, from 7.30 - 9.30 am
December 20 and 21: Sheep beauty competition, from 10am
December 22: The best herd of 30 camels
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
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PROFILE OF INVYGO
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Based: Dubai
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$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
The specs
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Company Profile:
Name: The Protein Bakeshop
Date of start: 2013
Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani
Based: Dubai
Size, number of employees: 12
Funding/investors: $400,000 (2018)
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
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Four motivational quotes from Alicia's Dubai talk
“The only thing we need is to know that we have faith. Faith and hope in our own dreams. The belief that, when we keep going we’re going to find our way. That’s all we got.”
“Sometimes we try so hard to keep things inside. We try so hard to pretend it’s not really bothering us. In some ways, that hurts us more. You don’t realise how dishonest you are with yourself sometimes, but I realised that if I spoke it, I could let it go.”
“One good thing is to know you’re not the only one going through it. You’re not the only one trying to find your way, trying to find yourself, trying to find amazing energy, trying to find a light. Show all of yourself. Show every nuance. All of your magic. All of your colours. Be true to that. You can be unafraid.”
“It’s time to stop holding back. It’s time to do it on your terms. It’s time to shine in the most unbelievable way. It’s time to let go of negativity and find your tribe, find those people that lift you up, because everybody else is just in your way.”
