Christmas Concert 2019
When we think about Christmas, our mind brings us mental 'snapshots' of the season: a beautiful Christmas tree, tinsel, reindeers, the warmth of a family gathering, music, you name it. This time of the year is our absolute favourite and we started spreading our Christmas cheer long before the term ended. Our Christmas Concert has become a long-standing Christmas tradition in the MKV community and on Thursday, 5th December 2019, we held another uplifting event to popular acclaim. This year’s concert had an African feel and a Ghanaian twist to it.
By 5.00pm, familiar faces and the library were no longer recognisable. In our bid to save the planet all year round and by kind courtesy of our creative and relentless mums, the library was spruced up with recycled Christmas decorations and ornaments. Once you stepped through the doors, you gazed upon magical sights and the sounds of Christmas wafted through the air. It was the perfect setting to showcase lots of talents throughout the school.
The night began with a welcome address by our MC, Miss Agustina Valenzuela. Then came Sankofa with a skit entitled “Dear Santa” and performances of “When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney” and later “Wiggly Wiggly Christmas” to ring in the season. These got everybody in the festive spirit.
The Dance club gave us a Zumba rendition of “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town”. Zumba is a fitness programme that combines Latin and international music with dance moves. Zumba routines incorporate interval training - alternating fast and slow rhythms to help improve cardiovascular fitness. Nkyinkyim also gave an exceptional performance of “Carol of the Bells” and danced to Wham’s “Last Christmas”, a treasured Christmas classic.
The Spanish Club is growing from strength to strength. This year, nearly all the children joined in the Spanish performance of “Era Rodolfo El Reno” (Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer) and “Cascabel” (Jingle Bells). There was no shortage of the holiday cheer!
Gye Nyame Class performances were steeped in the spirit of the times with just a little (or a lot) of twisted humour. They performed a couple of Ken Nesbitt Poems and tried their hands at the Glockenspiel. After listening to their long list of naughty deeds for the year, it was clear why “[They were] Gettin’ Nuffin for Christmas”.
The highlight of the night was the electrifying and eclectic sounds of African Drumming and Dance, the latest addition to our specialist lessons. African drumming is an excellent way for children to learn and grow, develop social skills, confidence, understand diversity and teamwork, increase their gross motor skills and boost creativity. The children paired the drumming with “Kpanlogo” (pahn-loh-goh), a Ghanaian recreational piece associated with the Ga people of the Greater Accra Region.
Nyansapo Class' performance was quintessentially Ghanaian. They sang a hilarious Ghanaian version of the popular “The Twelve Days of Christmas” carol and danced to a Ghanaian rendition of the popular Christmas classic “Jingle Bells” on a highlife beat. It was a musical feast for all the senses!
The whole school rendition “I believe” , our adopted school song, ended the night on a high note. The concert was followed by a candle-lit procession to the Club House where the children were treated to festive refreshments.
The staff and students of the International School of Ahafo would wholeheartedly like to thank all our awesome parents who helped us prepare for this concert. We thank you for transforming our library with recycled Christmas decorations. A huge and heartfelt thank you to all staff for their efforts in making our Christmas Concert such a resounding success. As ever, the children were the stars of the show, singing beautifully and delivering their lines with confidence and clarity. We hope everyone enjoyed the concert as much as we did and left feeling inspired and festive.
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, everyone!