Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The Masquerade Ball



By Marti Hardisty

The Phantom of the Opera was heard once again at Ashford School when the sixth graders attended the annual Masquerade Ball on February 11, 2009. The Ball is the culminating activity for a cross-curriculum unit in music, art and physical education. The music curriculum includes opera as a style of music; the art segment included learning about and making masks and students learned to dance in physical education class.
For two hours the students enjoyed a meal while being entertained by a select group of junior high musicians. Dancing followed, with the students showing off their talents in ballroom dance, as well as some traditional and modern line dances. Students wore costumes complemented by the masks they made. According to Caitlin R. and Kyle S., the ball was “very good and a great experience.” Luke Yanke thought more time was needed for dancing, which was an opinion shared by many of the students.