“Mystery is at the heart of creativity. That and surprise”. These words spoken by Julia Cameron, an American teacher, author and innovator who started the Artist's Way movement, perfectly sums up TK’s experience at the Primary ISTA Festival in Singapore in April and May.

There was a mysterious air surrounding the themes of both festivals, “What’s in a Box” for older grades of primary students, and “A City in the Sky” for younger grades. As part of this festival in Singapore, students explored these themes, got creative, and expressed themselves in a multitude of ways. We couldn’t wait to arrive to experience a dramatic surprise.

In April, nine TK students from grades 3 to 6 embarked on an adventurous saga to find out what could possibly be in a box. The ISTA artists led approximately a hundred students from four different international schools in Singapore through an explorative journey of imagination. Together they created inspiring spaces perfect for the students to let their creative juices flow and explore various forms of theatre such as shadow puppetry, musical theatre, theatrical movements, and storytelling. “The movements and actions made me feel energised!”, said Austen Chung (grade 3). It was exactly the purpose of the workshops: to ignite the creative energy within the students that they never knew they had. “I really enjoyed the Once Upon A Darker Time workshop because it helped me express myself through dance and movements.” added Joya Trifilieff (grade 4). The festival opened doors to creativity beyond imagination.

The lower primary festival followed in May, when 23 grade 1 to 3 students had their heads in the clouds imagining “a city in the sky”. What would it look like, how would we create it, would it float in the clouds, or hang from the stars? These were all the questions we would discover the answers for!

Led by four amazing ISTA artists, we learnt how to use our bodies and express ourselves, fine tuned our circus skills, explored puppetry settings, and created and sang amazing songs. Joshua Steinger’s (grade 1) favourite memory was the musical aspects, he loved learning and singing the festival song, “Up to the clouds and away”. Jiatong Darby Hou (grade 2) shared, “My favourite part of the festival was when we got to go to different environments and fill them up in different ways. We had to use all kinds of ideas and act them out. It was so much fun!” Students attended workshops, worked cooperatively in groups, and created a sharing for their parents - taking them to their city in the sky. They all took away some amazing skills and experiences. Saisha Adams (grade 3) felt that the festival helped everyone with different types of expression, and it helped her to feel more confident in drama. A truly magical and fun filled journey indeed!

ISTA provided CIS students with an amazing platform to express their creativity and truly let our quirkiness shine! We were inspired to be our true creative selves by the artists in residence, ensemble leaders, and teachers who helped to shape these fun filled and explorative weekends. We cannot wait to see what next year’s festivals have in store.