Zulu

Educational Workshops & and Residencies

Single or multiple days
in your school or college

In addition to the festival performance and workshops themselves MZN are experienced educators with a diverse programme of educational workshops and many years experience of delivering them as part of a cohesive programme. Talk to us about one-off workshops or a schools residencies can be a part of a festival outreach programme or can be booked by individual or groups of schools.

Workshops and educational performances

The following workshops are a sample of what can be achieved in a full day for a school or college. It's possible to mix and match different workshops and any workshops at your school or college will be discussed with you and prepared in advance for maximumeducational value. Allof these workshops can be adapted for any age grpup - even for adults at festival or corporate training days.

PROGRAMME FOR A FULL DAY INCLUDES A CHOICE FROM THE FOLLOWING
 

Workshops encourage:
* Diversity awareness
* Breaking down the barriers around prejudice
* Ethnic, religious and racial equality
* Community building
* International understanding leading to local benefits

A day with Zulu is a total cultural experience

School Workshop Programme - Full Day Includes a choice of workshops from the following...

Times are flexible to suit your timetable and break times. We suggest starting at 9.30 - 9.45 with the Song and Dance showcase followed by the General Workshop. If the hall is needed for lunches you may wish to break the day there, or you may have time for one more item before lunch which you can select from the choices below. After lunch there is usually time for two more workshops from the list of choices plus a short community or parent performance showcasing the work the students have done.

Start your day with two fixed items...

TRADITIONAL SONG & DANCE SHOWCASE - 30 Minutes
For the whole school in the school hall. This is an essential introduction to your day's workshops.
Meet the cast. Experience the heartbeat of Africa in thesepowerful dance sequences and mesmerizing Zulu traditional war chants. Explanations and demonstrations of fascinating aspects of Zulu culture. The significance of some of the elements of The significance of some of the elements of zulu costume.

GENERAL WORKSHOP – 45 minutes
For the whole school in the school hall. This is also an essential introduction to your day's workshops.
A fun interactive workshop highlighting geography, history, language, costume and community of the traditional & modern Zulu. Including the significance of dance & song in a Zulu community.

Then choose from...

ZULU PLAY - 45 minutes
For the whole school in the school hall. Highlighting Zulu culture and including some song and dance woven into a story.

DANCE WORKSHOP – 30 minutes
Suggested maximum of 60 pupils, boys and girls (more by negotiation).
Explore Zulu rhythms and learn a traditional dance routine, steps and the meaning behind it all.

SONG WORKSHOP – 30 minutes
Suggested maximum of 60 pupils, boys and girls (more by negotiation). Learn traditional Zulu songs. We currently have a vocal trainer who has worked on the Lion King and with the likes of John Legend, Chris Brown and Miss Kim Burel. We communicate techniques that are essential in African music especially.

PERCUSSION WORKSHOP - 30 minutes
Suggested maximum of 60 pupils, boys and girls.
You will need to provideparticipants with drums (any kind). We have an expert drummer with a wealth of experience both locally and abroad. We will work closely with schools on this project to teach novices and develop the talent of those who already know how to play, but who want to further improve their skills. Drums are associated with spiritualism in the African culture. Plenty of that is explained in the workshop. We specialise in the Kenyan djembe drum and the Zulu bass drum.

JUNK BAND WORKSHOP
Junk Band (improvised) drums which can include anything from gallon-sized water containers (nothing toxic please) to empty pizza boxes. Learn African rhythms and cross rhythms and how to play steady rhythms for dancing - but you don't have to dance in this workshop - so can be enjoyed by all ages and all levels of fitness.

ART & BEADWORK WORKSHOP – 30 minutes
Suggested maximum of 30 pupils, boys and girls.
The Zulu performers, dressed in traditional costume will become live models for art. They will also explain and show traditional artefacts, masks, African tools (including some of the tools used by magical traditional healers such as ishoba), musical instruments and colourful beadwork and talk about the significance of the designs and how to design your own beadwork. They are on display for the students to examine, photograph and draw. Some are even given an opportunity to try on the masks. In addition historical information about the artifacts is offered, as well as correct spelling and accurate pronunciation.

CITIZENSHIP WORKSHOP - 30 minutes
Suggested maximum of 30 pupils - high schools only
Presented by Thandanani Gumede at the same time as the rest of the Zulus are doing an art workshop. This is a presentation on how people interact within communities for the common good. It builds from local to national importance of community awareness. With examples from Zulu culture. For example: the objective of Zulu justice is neither the settling of scores nor punishment. Rather, it is to heal and restore the dignity and honour to the victim of the crime inducing forgiveness and reconciliation so both parties can live in peace and harmony in their community. Discussed bullying, laws, reconciliation and how the Zulu peoples arrived at a workable solution after years of conflict.

AFTERNOON COMMUNITY PERFORMANCE - 20-30 minutes
For the whole school + parents in the school hall or theatre space
Showcasing the pupils' participation during the day the Zulus will present a short, costumed community performance of song, dance and drumming. This will bring the children into the limelight with the Zulus for a live stage performance and will be the culmination of an exciting day of workshops, giving even the most reticent children the opportunity to succeed. A great confidence-booster.

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS PROVIDED
A downloadable FAQ sheet is available for schools once a booking has been made. This will enable teachers to prepare.

MERCHANDISE - EDUCATIONAL
Zulu song books with an accompanying teaching CD will be available for late autumn of 2010 to purchase separately (for schools and for pupils if required). Schools can buy a pack of 30 song-word books with one teacher's pack and CD. Individuals can buy a word book and audio CD

MERCHANDISE
The Zulus will also have a commercial CD release and associated Zulu merchandise - genuine beadwork (for boys and girls) etc, responsibly sourced from fair trade makers.

Evening Performances

Evening performances are available as an extra as a school fundraiser. Please enquire.

A NOTE ABOUT CRB
Because the cast members of ZULU are not resident in the UK it is not possible for them to obtain a CRB certificate (which only checks UK databases, so would be worthless), however, rest assured, before they can get a visa to work in the UK a thorough background check is undertaken in South Africa. We do trust that no school will leave gueest performers without teacher supervision in workshops. This is important for your insurance as well as ours.

The Mighty Zulu Nation