Above: Tap dancing mouse Ashley Gardiner.By Paul Dunlop
IF CHRISTMAS spirit was a school subject, a festive group of Kooweerup Secondary College students would get top marks.
They are staging a yuletide performance that will help primary schools around the region get into the festive spirit.
The performance, Christmas of the Animals, responds to a recent edict from Victorian Premier Steve Bracks that schools should not ‘ban Christmas’.
Spurred by concerns that some Victorian schools were refusing to stage Christmas celebrations to appease families with nonChristian beliefs, Mr Bracks recently gave his official encouragement to nativity scenes, carols and other traditions.
Kooweerup Secondary College’s music department has taken the message to heart.
Students will stage Christmas of the Animals for 11 primary schools next week.
The musical will also feature at Carols by Candlelight at Kooweerup on Friday, 9 December and at Warneet on 16 December.
College music director Claudia Barker said Christmas of the Animals was a “sparkling musical” by Melbourne playwright and composer Cenarth Fox.
“It is the story of Christmas as told by the animals,” she said.
“There’s the donkey who travelled to Bethlehem carrying Mary, the camels carrying the wise men, the cattle in the stable, the innkeeper’s super friendly dog and the timid mice who emerge from under the straw near the manger and sing and tap dance.”
