BELLY DANCE AND GHOSTS IN
SORIA MORIA
Project manager Tone Vatle, Osterøy public library, Norway
- I will dance Belly dance for the rest of my life! This was the spontaneous statement from one of the enthusiastic kids leaving the mobile library Soria Moria in autumn 2000. We were on with the third tour in “Treasury Chest on the Move” and danced with veils and sticks. Outside! Western Norway! In October and November. For they who weren’t there or don’t remember: there were many cold days this autumn…..
Our belly dancer, Inger- Lise Palm, was chilled to the bone, and got a quite serious cold. But what did she say, when coughing through a conversation with me about one week after the end of the tour: - Tone! It was worth it!!
My name is Tone Vatle . I work in one of Norway’s most exciting libraries; - Osterøy folkeboksamling. For the last six years I’ve been the leader of two great projects. The first, “A treasury chest on the move”, had its purpose to spread art for kids living in sparsely populated areas. It lasted from 1999 to 2002, and consisted of five different tours.
This summer we finished our last project, -“Read for your life!” The purpose here is love of reading for children.
I will now present the two projects for you and at the same time show some pictures. So: find yourself a comfortable seat, and enjoy the presentation!
“Treasury Chest on the Move”
The kids living in NordHordland are not spoilt with art impressions. When Osterøy Folkeboksamling ´s new mobile library was ready in 1998, we had an exhibition room in addition to a library on wheels.
And what an exhibition room! The interior is in royal blue and gold with elements of oak and red smooth velvet. The library counter and the toilet door (!) have got inspiration from an adventure palace, and the picture books are located in golden treasure chests.
We wanted to make use of this unique moving room, and decided to present different styles of art in five tours.
Seven councils took part, and we wanted to follow two age groups through a period of three years. More than 1000 kids AND their teachers would get memories for life.
I myself is educated and have many years of experience as a teacher, and I know where the shoe pinches. One thing is to go to an art exhibition. Another thing is to dare using the art for teaching. This was our challenge: To inspire the teachers enough!
Before each tour, the teachers were invited to an information meeting. In these meetings I presented the style of art and the artist. I also introduced a teacher’s guide, composed for each tour. Here the teachers would find background material about the style of art, proposals to preliminary work in front of the tour, lots of ideas for complementary work in the classroom, and a copious list of literature.
“Fable animals, dreamy animals, cosy animals…”
On the first tour, we were so lucky to get in contact with a newly educated artist living in Bergen. Her name is Ellen Solberg, and she makes enormous abstract animal-like sculptures out of different woven materials.
The great, soft fable creatures were perfect to 5-6 year old kids. They loved them, and could climb, cuddle, hug.. They were sitting and lying on sculptures and in sculptures. And not least: the artist was there and could tell stories and try to find answer to all the questions that were asked.
The children came into the bus in groups of 10-12. The weather was rainy. I put off and on a LOT of shoes this autumn…
Many teachers had asked for a tour with sculpture as an art style, and after the tour it was bubbling with ideas in kindergartens and classrooms. I was invited to a lot of exciting exhibitions with children-made sculptures in all materials and colours.
“Akka, Bakka, Bonkarakka…”
This is the first line in a Norwegian nursery rhyme, and on the second tour literature for kids was our theme. The author Anneke Bjørgum was hired as artist. This time we had groups of about 30 kids in the bus, but Anneke never failed in making them consentrated. Her alternating between singing, telling rhymes, dancing and telling stories, made each performance an adventure. The children’s subject was to bring with them self-made rhymes, and those were recited with great passion.
Anneke Bjørgum had close bond of friendship to Burkina Faso in Western Africa, and it became natural to make links. The last week the flutist Adama Barry joined us in Soria Moria. We hid him behind the front wall, and when the children entered the bus, they could not see him, only listen to the tunes of his flute. The atmosphere was magic!
The project also arranged concerts in all the councils with Adama and two other musicians from Burkina Faso. In company with Anneke Bjørgum they had fantastic performings for most of the pupils.
Belly Dance!
Quite early in the project planning I was sure that Belly Dance should become our dance presentation. It would be easy to get connections to other subjects, and to get the kids to dance.
The non professional belly dancer Inger Lise Palm was exactly the woman we needed. She made a video with the actual dances, a tape with the music; she bought materials to the dance-veils, and generously treated golden coins to fasten to the veils.
It also became a very successful tour! Colourful, transparent veils floating in golden autumn sun around the pink bus. Lucky children who would dance belly dance for the rest of their lives. And lots of journalists came to make reportages. MALE journalists…..
Before this tour, the children had whittled a stick for use in the Egyptian stick dance. Many of those were artistically decorated. We also experienced groups of pupils that had created their own dance.
After the tour, all was offered to buy veil-materials. To let the dance live on. 75 % of the schools made use of this offer….
“Muzikk Zakk”
When the world known percussionist Terje Isungset was interested in joining our Rolling Treasury, I realised that nothing is impossible! With all his imaginable and unthinkable instruments, he was made for Soria Moria. He hang up sounds made of wood, slates, goat cloves, mussels, pinneringler, bells from Tibet….. and made music of it as if by magic.
The kids were spellbound by this musical wizard.
On this tour the children should bring with them self-made instruments. They did! And none of the concerts were equal.
“Theatre fleas”
The final tour in ”A treasury chest on the move” made it impossible to get use of ”Soria Moria”. To the performance “The Nightingale”, the puppet theatre creator – and player Jack Markussen had created a silk painted tent measuring 10 multiplied to 5 meters
We had to use gymnasiums and community centres, and the children had to be transported by bus. In Osterøy, we managed to rise the tent inside the library areas!
It became a lovely and beautiful last show for us. The two actors led with their artistic play the children – and the adults- in to a magical world. To many of them, this meeting with the emperor of China and all the peculiar creatures in his castle became a memory for life.
But many of the kids were obviously disappointed that the pink bus wasn’t there.
Just to come into the adventure world of “Soria Moria” was a great experience for many of them.
That’s all about Treasury Chest on the Move. Now I have to take a very short break…..
UHU!!!! And here comes “Read for your life!”
“Read for your life!” is a cooperating project where four libraries in Northern Hordaland take part: Fjell, Lindås, Meland and Osterøy. The project started in august 2002, and is finished this summer.
Through these three years, 6 500 pupils in the 9-year school, and more than 500 teachers have participated.
We have given them:
· A concrete and inspiring experience to build up love of reading
· Read stimulating attempts and added crew in the mobile libraries during the weeks after these arrangements. Each library also has adjusted and bought literature adapted each class.
· A visit in the classroom after approximately ½ year. Here the pupils have shown what came out of the reading. The project leader also in different ways has tried to inspire them to further reading.
Our aims are:
· No children shall finish 9-year school without ability to read.
· The children shall love to read.
· All the children are so good at reading, that they feel great delight with it.
Our aim group are three classes: 2., 5., and 7. class.
We have four libraries, three mobile libraries and one of Norway’s most preserved sailing vessels to our disposal. By means of this, we have managed to create both delight and love of reading!
From UHU! To AHA!
As the pupils start in 2. class, a few of them already are readers. Another group can manage to put letters together and read small words. But most of the children find reading quite difficult.
We found out,-to make it easier to them-, each pupil should create their own little ghost. An easy-made hand-puppet. This puppet should follow them back to the classroom. Now their duties were to learn their ghost reading.
Of course we had to call this part of the project: From UHU! to AHA!
All the classes visited the library in their own council. To many of them, this was their first library meeting. Mette Wernøe, a pensioned kindergarten teacher, has made a puppet theatre based on the books about Laban – an anxious little ghost. She presented this to the children with great success.
After the theatre session, we created a ghost fabric. I convince you: when about a hundred 6-7 year old fabric workers are going to make their own puppet at the same time, it’s necessarily with good planning and organizing! But it worked out!
The kids were lucky, and created sweet little ghost puppets out of a piece of white cloth, a lump of cotton and an elastic rubber band. When ready, each ghost floated and danced around the library areas with good help from their young creators.
We had a gossip about how to learn these little creatures to read, and the pupils returned to school with this great aim: When ghost mama should come to a visit in ½ year, the little ghosts should be able to read!
And these visits really became “Happy hours”! Ghost Mama joked, sang and read. And many of the little puppet ghosts read loud to let mama listen. A lot of them already had made their own books.
5. Class:” Read for your life!”
At this age, most of the pupils manage to read, but many of them still find it quite difficult.
What help are lots and lots of reading.
We invited all the classes to the library again. Here they met well-known authors who told them about their books and about being an author.
When returning to the schools, each class got with them a case of books. To each book we have made a questionnaire. And now it’s competition! During the next four weeks they’ll read! As much as they can! The teachers are logging, and when reading time is over, there is a reward to the class who read on the average most sides. Book rewards, of course!
The mobile libraries further supply with exciting books and the crew support to find literature that fit each pupil best.
The book cases contain fiction, technical books, picture books and sound books. They are exactly put together, and of course adjusted unequal read levels.
The 10 year old kids are keen on the competition moment. When the mobile library entered one of the schools during the four reading weeks, the 5. Class did not have time to borrow books. They had to read! Even the football was lying quiet these weeks..
7. Class: “Cruising Mathilde”
Mathilde is a beautiful lady! She is on of Norway’s most preserved sailing vessels and belongs to Hardanger Fartøyvernsenter. And she’s to our disposal four weeks each spring and autumn.
All the pupils and teachers in the 7. Class are one day on board. They get a boating tour into the world of books!
The boat’s crew is experienced in dealing with children, and learns them about ropes, knots and setting sail. The pupils are hosting and taking sails, steering the boat, fishing and singing shanties.
In the galley they cook cocoa, and have a nice eating time on deck before all of them are going inside Mathilde.
Under deck an actress is waiting to give the pupils a reading experience. A lot of different books are spread over two great tables, and the actress reads and tells from some of the books.
The books are exactly put together for this age, and we try to make great variations in contain to hit most of the pupils. At this age, reading doesn’t seem to be the most exciting activity, especially not among the boys.
But this way of passing on books seems to have effect.
The pupils come to the mobile library after the tour, and throw themselves into the bookshelves. Mostly to find one of the books that was presented on board. Of course we don’t have enough books to let each of them borrow the most popular – in the same time. So we make waiting lists, and offer them something else in the waiting time. In the shelves we have put together the best titles we can offer.
Most of the pupils leave the mobile library with a lucky smile – and a good book.
It’s difficult to measure reading activity. But we can see a good increase in the loan, especially from the mobile libraries. In some of the libraries this increase is as high as 20 %!
And the statements (?) (tilbakemelding) from the teachers show us that “Read for your life!” has inspired and engaged both pupils and teachers!
Programme
