CAPA Night
Over the last few years, St Andrew’s College has developed a strong reputation for its Creative and Performing Arts, from its well-known CAN Festivals starting in the early 2000s, showing that creative potential sparks within Greater Western Sydney.
On May 24th, 2022, the Marayong school hosted its first CAPA night: a new event to the school, which aimed to support the arts and crafts of the Stage 5 CAPA students at SAC. The day presented a wide variety of crafts, including Visual Arts, Drama and Music.
4pm. The first stage of the night began: the Art Exhibition. The whole room turned from a library to an art gallery; in just minutes. Parents, students, teachers. They all flooded the atmosphere, revealing the high amount of popularity for the art expo. The SAC community (and members outside SAC) had an opportunity to wander around the art exhibition, admiring all the various shapes and forms of artworks created by our SAC students.
For the Year 9 Visual Arts students, a mini version of the Archibald Prize was hosted, which allowed the Year 9 students to present their talents in creating portrait paintings: artworks that reveal the identity and life of important people in their lives. For the Year 10 Visual Arts students , a whole collection of Suburbia artworks were presented publicly, which signified the Year 10 students’ connections and imaginations of important places in their lives.
Colours, crowds and conversations. What an afternoon to begin with!
5pm. The second stage of the night began: the Music performances. The large audience gathered around in a wide circle, to view the compositions of their fellow peers from SAC (aka the Stage 4 and 5 Music students). Microphones were checked, auto-tuning was checked and confidence was checked. The Stage 4 and 5 Music students’ theory and practical work, in Music, came down to a moment, worth waiting for.
Throughout the performances, the audience was taken down memory lane, as they listened to nostalgic tunes including “Iris” (by Goo Goo Dolls), “2002” (by Anne-Marie) and “I Feel It Coming” (by The Weeknd). After the constant nostalgia rides, the audience clapped and cheered in content, for the spectacular performances in the middle of the night!
Sounds, surprise and smiles. The event kept on ramping up with joy!
6pm. The third and final stage of the night began: the Drama performances. The audience moved from the Learning Centre, all the way to the Performing Arts block for an ending which would leave them coming back for more. Everybody gathered around the stage, willing to what performances and plots would await them. The Drama crew (aka the Stage 5 Drama students) knew what to do.
The event started off with a Year 9 miming scene, followed by Year 10 monologues (which were surprisingly relatable). The event’s ending performance left the audience laughing, gasping and fascinated in the short play of the Year 9 students! Emotion was definitely what brang the SAC community together in unity, because of the Drama performances.
Exaggerated, expressed, evoked. The finale certainly left the audience with a chuckle in their hearts!
After two disrupted years of lockdown, the school has been able to freely host a variety of events that allow for in-person gatherings, like the CAPA Showcase night, to occur in 2022.
Overall, the results of the CAPA Showcase night turned out to be spectacular. The event's popularity was high and so was the quality of the art forms shown, through Visual Arts, Music and Drama, by students at St Andrew’s College.
Thank you to all the SAC community members that were involved in SAC’s first-ever CAPA Night! Whether you came as a guest, artist, performer, photographer or manager, your involvement is greatly appreciated!
The Learning Centre was packed full of excitement, as tons of students among the SAC community lined up to see the Junior CAPA Night Showcase in full-swing! Here are some of the students’ thoughts on the phenomenal showcase, from Sabrina Dutong (Year 7) and Clariz Dela Rosa (Year 8)!
What made CAPA Night enjoyable?
- Sabrina: “CAPA night was enjoyable because I got to be with my friends and I watched the students of our SAC community create wonderful artworks, pieces and performances.”
- Clariz: “CAPA night was a very enjoyable and relaxing night! enjoyed many of the different events that were provided. It was a cozy night where the teachers, students and families could gather together and watch the amazing performances, the art gallery and as well as the theater acts. This was also a chance for the students to showcase their talents! That's what made CAPA night enjoyable and incredible.”
What does it mean to be an artist?
- Sabrina: “An artist is someone that can make art. It doesn’t matter if it’s with a canvas and paint brushes it can be anything, performances, singing, making music, paintings, photography etc. Being an artist is a huge role, and many people fulfill that role and become well known artists, or artists of our community.”
- Clariz: “To be an artist is to share an experience or have a message which the viewer can look at and be amazed by its details. Art can be shown in myriad ways, which is what I noticed during the CAPA night. Art is something that doesn’t just need to be detailed and amazing but it can also be shown in cubism, surrealism etc. Which is what makes art fun to look at as the viewer.”
How has CAPA night helped you along your art journey?
- Sabrina: “CAPA night has helped me because now I know what I'd like to pursue in my SAC journey. I'd like to have the opportunity to play more instruments (instrument players always have a big role) and take part in the band or group.”
- Clariz: “It helped me understand more about art and the different styles and ways we can show our own experiences and share messages in many different art forms such as photography and digital drawings. I learnt that art can be interesting which is what makes art exciting to look at.”
Other comments
- Sabrina: “at CAPA night all the performances took my breath away. This was my first time going to a performing arts showcase, and I really enjoyed it. I can really see myself in the future once again attending something like this.”
- Clariz: “I enjoyed the night! And I definitely suggest and encourage many families, students and teachers who are interested in art, theater or music to come along next time. I believe this was the first and successful CAPA night which is why I truly request for many people to come along next time.”
Benjamin Reyes (Year 9)
SAC Media Team Photographer and Writer