Tomorrow i'm talking in assembly about performing arts in melbourne. but i don't know what to say?

Question

Do you have any information about performances or cultural performing arts events or expeditions in Melbourne?

Answer 1

If you'll be talking about performing arts, there's a website that you should visit. It's called www.notonthetest.com which contains a wonderful statement on the "State of the Arts", and their importance in society. Tom Chapin, songwriter/performer wrote the song, "Not On The Test". Here are the lyrics:

Not On The Test

by John Forster & Tom Chapin

© 2008 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)



Go on to sleep now, third grader of mine.

The test is tomorrow but you'll do just fine.

It's reading and math, forget all the rest.

You don't need to know what is not on the test.



Each box that you mark on each test that you take,

Remember your teachers, their jobs are at stake.

Your score is their score, but don't get all stressed.

They'd never teach anything not on the test.



The School Board is faced with no child left behind

With rules but no funding, they’re caught in a bind.

So music and art and the things you love best

Are not in your school ‘cause they’re not on the test.



Sleep, sleep, and as you progress

You’ll learn there’s a lot that is not on the test.



Debate is a skill that is useful to know,

Unless you’re in Congress or talk radio,

Where shouting and spouting and spewing are blessed

'Cause rational discourse was not on the test.



Thinking's important. It's good to know how.

And someday you'll learn to but someday's not now.

Go on to sleep, now. You need your rest.

Don't think about thinking. It's not on the test.  

Here is an excerpt from Tom Chapin's personal statement on the "State of the Arts":

"... And now, as a father and a grandfather, I so appreciate the tough job that faces every teacher. I believe they need all the help they can get: anything that excites a student, opens their eyes, and hearts and minds is a positive that makes a child invest in school.

Music, art, drama and sports - these are what kept me involved when I was in school. And these very things, that make a teacher’s (and student’s) job easier and more rewarding, are what’s been cut from curriculums across the country.

Now we are teaching by rote again - where the test, and only the test, becomes the reason to teach and study.

It’s no secret that American industry has outsourced most factory jobs to other countries to take advantage of cheaper labor costs. So why are we putting so much effort into a form of education in which there is no creativity? This is the time that our youth should be taught to think ”out of the box,” not be put into a tighter one!"

I think that this is a message that needs to go out there to everyone interested in "The Performing Arts". I hope that you receive this in time to make it a part of your message!

Suerte!

Answer 2

This link will help you:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_...