Meraki - The Cultural Journey of IBDP
The IBDP XI students of SNS, Gurgaon celebrated their CAS Cultural Event – “Meraki”
Meraki is a word that modern Greeks often use to describe the ‘experience and feeling when you leave a piece of yourself, be it your soul, creativity, or love, in your work’. It is a celebration of ‘Creativity’ of our multitalented and multidimensional students! From the brainstorming sessions through the creation of e-invite and posters, selection of the creative pieces, practice sessions, creation of diverse artwork, tech rehearsal to the presentation of Meraki.
There were many insightful and moving performances and presentations. There was a guitar and vocal rendition of “Seven Nation Army” by The White Stripes.
Next was a trilogy of monologues performed by the students. These were short dramatic monologues from contemporary plays, which highlighted the feelings of adolescents, like a girl who yearns to look pretty, the inadequate feelings of an adolescent and confusion in the mind of a young adult. This was followed by an exquisite drums recital, in which an original composition was called ‘We Go Together’.The violin is widely considered amongst the most passionate and expressive of instruments. The next presentation was a scintillating Hindustani violin performance,‘Antar Dhwani’.Following this was a quartet of student singers on the keyboard, singing ‘City of Stars’from the soundtrack of the movie La La Land, in the Western Vocal category.
A soul-stirring poem by the American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist -Maya Angelou, “I Rise”, recitation was done by a student.
An interactive art workshop where parents participated in two different activities ‘Stop Motion’ and ‘Tie and Dye’, they seemed to enjoy the activity to the hilt. They created works of art - ‘stop motion videos’ and ‘tie and dye handkerchiefs’ within a span of 30 minutes.
Dhol is a double-headed drum widely used, with regional variations, throughout the Indian subcontinent – A Dhol acclimatization was presented by a student, in the form of Lecture Demonstration, based on the nuances of playing a Dhol, keeping the audience mesmerized with the intricacies of the foot-tapping beats.
An oral interpretation of a self-composed poem was presented. Her poem titled ‘Mask of Happiness’ was inspired by her close association with others whom she helped when they needed her support when they were ‘depressed’.
Following these students presented their oral interpretation of the motivational French poem ’Tu Apprendras’, which when translated to English means ‘You Will Learn’. The tone and mood of the poem through incomprehensible to many captivated the gathering as the speakers' displayed exemplary prowess in arousing emotion among the listeners through their expression and voice modulation.
The next part of the show was a short theatrical performance titled ‘Tangled Feet’ by the theatre students, it was a laugh riot and the audience enjoyed the hilarious play.
Finally, the icing on the cake was the Spanish carols sung by the Spanish students reiterating the essence and feel of Christmas.
A beautiful winter afternoon spent amidst melodious renditions, foot-tapping beats, fun, laughter, and mirth will be etched in the minds of all as the pioneer presentation of our first batch of IB DP students.
