Talk, Sing, Read, Play and Dance!

Dancing Story with The Australian Ballet

There was plenty of shimmying, shaking and smiles earlier this month at the Stratford Library in Cairns as over 100 children joined in the Dancing Story workshop with The Australian Ballet. The mini movers and groovers explored the story of ‘Coppelia’ through oral storytelling, sequencing  photos of the characters, dance and music ahead of the Ballet’s performance at Munro Martin Park in Cairns.

In partnership with the first5forever team, 6 sessions were held for 3-5 year olds over the day and were eagerly anticipated by the community.  Even younger siblings and parents were involved by helping mix the giant potion in the parachute to bring the toy doll to life.

The partnership with the Australian Ballet provided a great platform to share the first5forever key message of talking, singing, reading and playing with the little people in their life.  This shared experience allowed families to participate together with the little ones to talk about each character, explore different musical instruments and move to different tempos of music.

We had amazing feedback from our families including this lovely comment on our Cairns Libraries Facebook page:

"Thank you Cairns Libraries and the First5forever program along with The Australian Ballet for providing our little kids with the opportunity to combine storytelling and movement.  My little girl was in awe of Jasmin and couldn’t stop talking about her morning at the library, especially her new book gifted by the first5forever program.  We have read Josephine Wants to Dance several times now and she wants to take it to day care to share with her friends.  Thank you again for providing the opportunity to nurture our kids love of reading.”

About the author

Sheree Arnett is the co-ordinator of first5forever program at Cairns Libraries.