Lots of excitement this week in my workshops for year 7-8 focussing on improvising & cognition for gifted and talented students. The skills difference between the 5-6 cohort last week and the year 7-8 cohort this week is quite significant in some areas, especially confidence levels for singing. We are working on a final showcase for parents tomorrow afternoon, and this is also a chance to chat with parents about the role of Arts in developing their child's "soft skills" (communication,...

At GERRIC 2026 the year 5-6 cohort had a challenge/extension activity based on the well known Theatresports game "sing about it". Using a simple keyboard some basic loops of chord patterns were played and at various times in the scene I challenged the students to immediately move from speech into singing and continue the scene. Almost all of the 24 students in the cohort were musicians (including some multi-instrumentalists) and they loved the challenge of recontextualising their improvised...

It is exciting to be back at my alma mater UNSW to present to gifted & talented primary students at the GERRIC summer program. Lots of laughs as we learn about impro' thinking and how to apply it to other subjects and contexts.