Winter Concert 2017

Happy New Year and welcome back to school! We hope your winter break was full of family time, relaxation, and plenty of fun. We are all ready to get back into our school routine, but before we start, let's take this week to look back on the last few weeks of 2017 - today, we look back on the 2017 winter concert that happened way back on the evening of December 21st. And because there was so much hard work and preparation involved, we'll take a behind-the-scenes look at the Upper Elementary production tomorrow. Now, on to the concert!The Primary students were in their finest festive wear as they arrived the night of the concert. Above, Assistant Karolina Hanus comforts a nervous child before going onstage. Below, Primary students wait patiently before heading onstage for the big show.The show started with the Extended Day Primary children, who recited "Twas the Night Before Christmas" - yes, the whole thing! The entire Primary joined them to perform several wonderful songs. Their rendition of "Winter Song" brought tears to plenty of audience members' eyes!As usual, the most amusing part of the Primary show was spotting the youngest members of the group and how they either escaped the music (by crawling underneath the bleachers) or felt the music like no one else (like the little character in the front who just couldn't help but dance), or even the children who tried desperately to keep their classmates in line! Every year there are a few, and this year did not disappoint!Next up: the Lower Elementary, who recited poems, sang solos, told jokes, and even performed their own short skits and commercials before singing all together. One of the most impressive feats: a solo of "Feliz Navidad" bravely performed with no music or accompaniment. She did a fantastic job!Above: "The Locomotion" song and dance!After the Lower Elementary performance, the Upper Elementary set up onstage during a brief intermission. There is so much to discuss regarding the Upper Elementary performance, we will be dedicating an entire blog post to it tomorrow. But for now, we will simply say that it involved a historical account of Hawaii, tap dancing, live music, singing and traditional Hawaiian dancing, props, costumes, and a play -- all written, produced, and directed by the Upper Elementary students themselves.Thank you to all the students and staff of Villa di Maria for another knock-out Winter Concert! You left us all with the warm fuzzies for the perfect start to the holiday season! Be sure to check in tomorrow for our behind-the-scenes look into Upper Elementary and all the hard work that went into their part of the production.