Scottish Opera’s much-loved, annual Primary Schools Tour starts in February with The Dragon of the Western Sea, and a new digital version of the show is now available alongside the in-person tour.
Running through the Spring and Summer terms, the tour visits schools all over Scotland as well as in Newcastle and helps teachers deliver aspects of A Curriculum for Excellence. It gives up to 100 P5-P7s the opportunity to be involved in a special performance day, during which a team of Scottish Opera Teaching Artists help them stage their own all-singing, all-dancing 30-minute show, with full rental of props and costumes. Alternatively, it can be facilitated entirely within the classroom by teachers themselves.
For both in-person and digital, schools are provided with high quality, online teaching resources in advance, including a teachers’ support pack, to help introduce the songs from The Dragon of the Western Sea to pupils.
Last toured in 2018, The Dragon of the Western Sea was composed by Alan Penman with words by Ross Stenhouse, and tells the story of the exciting voyages of 14th century Chinese commander, Admiral Zheng He, who set sail with his vast fleet and 28,000 crew, from China to Indonesia, India, Arabia and the grasslands of Africa in search of trade, treaties and treasure.
When the great Dragon Throne Emperor of China, Zhu Di, has decided it is time his nation expanded its influence beyond the edge of the known world and into the mysterious Western Sea, he assembles his mighty ships and fills them with all the riches of China, enough to buy the gratitude and friendship of those unknown lands beyond the setting sun. Only one man could be trusted to lead such a dangerous and important mission, the great Admiral Zheng He, the Dragon of the Western Sea.
Scottish Opera’s children’s operas make learning fun and creative. Over the years, the Primary Schools Tour has inspired over 850,000 children across all 32 Local Authority areas in Scotland.
The Dragon of the Western Sea forms part of a suite of Scottish Opera’s digital offerings for schools, which includes The Curse of MacCabbra Opera House, How The Dragon Was Made, Vikings! The Quest for the Dragon’s Treasure and The Tale o’ Tam o’ Shanter.
This online delivery method — which includes Scottish Opera singers appearing on screen in classrooms to sing alongside the class — makes the project even easier and more affordable for teachers to engage with, particularly in those schools without specialist music teachers at primary level.
With 50-plus years of experience in classrooms, Scottish Opera’s Outreach and Education Programme has developed this approach because it recognised that the in-person learning Primary Schools Tour experience reaches capacity very quickly each year, so a complementary strand of the programme has been created in the form of a set of exclusivelyonline resources — so many more schools across Scotland can participate — and at a much lower cost per pupil.
Scottish Opera’s Director of Education and Outreach, Jane Davidson said:‘With The Dragon of the Western Sea, the composer and librettist were inspired by this real-life story to create a dramatic tale of adventure on the high seas. The plot gives us a wonderful opportunity to introduce Scottish primary pupils to a different perspective on the age of discovery. Admiral He predated the journeys made by European explorers by many years. Using a blend of musical styles as well as key words and phrases from China, Africa and India, the opera provides a fascinating snapshot of the history and customs of other cultures in an appealing and accessible way.
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‘We are delighted we have been able to re-imagine and expand the tour by offering a digital version of The Dragon of the Western Sea, to make it even more accessible and adaptable for all schools in Scotland to take part.’
The Dragon of the Western Sea tour is kindly supported by The David and June Gordon Memorial Trust, The Pear Tree Fund for Music, The W M Mann Foundation and Scottish Opera’s Education Angels.
For more information, visit Primary Schools Tour | Scottish Opera
