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A Typical Day

Minstrels Gallery will try to accommodate your specific school requirements within a day's workshop.
Wherever possible we like to use the school hall to accommodate the activities and our large display of instruments.
We require a good 45 minutes to set up which usually means the first workshop starts at 9.30am.
Listed below are some suggested formats for a day's visit:

1 For larger schools with a multi form year group, we suggest sessions of around one hours duration.
Culminating in a plenary session where pupils display their work to each other or alternatively provide a short "concert" to the whole school.

2 A modification to the above would be a larger group for a longer period of time. Although this allows a more comprehensive exploration of the subject, it does not allow as much hands-on pupil experience.
This format tends to be more of a illustrated concert.		 Drawing Of Jane
Drawing Of Tony 3 Another option is to start the day off with a whole school assembly giving everyone the opportunity for a taster before more detailed work with individual groups.

4 For the smaller school or set of pupils, we suggest a whole day with one group. This works very well in delivering an individually tailored experience where all pupils get a thorough hands on session.
This allows for thematic development culminating in a performance of music, dance and theatre at the end of the school day to invited parents.
We have found this particular format to be very popular with pupils, teachers and parents alike.

Our workshops aim to encourage pupils to imagine themselves as Tudors through specific role-play as a minstrel and we strongly encourage pupils to dress up in costume where at all possible, as this adds fun and authenticity to the event.

We employ an intentionally cross curricula approach by looking at the science and technology of the instruments, the use of language in description, the geographical importance of countries particularly Spain and France, the cross cultural influence, especially Arabic, on both the style of instruments and the music they play. We even employ a little maths when looking at rhythm and beat division.

   Pupil Performance

The Tudor experience is enhanced through an exploration of social and cultural aspects of all levels of society, particularly through paintings.
By looking at paintings such as The Ambassadors by Hans Holbein and comparing this with The Peasant Dance by Pieter Bruegel, pupils gain an immediate visual sense of the extremes of class structure in Tudor society, along with a wonderful depiction of dress, behaviour, social custom and allegory.

The Ambassadors The Peasant Dance


Pupils are encouraged to take part in a dance session where the branle and pavanne are taught.
Simple costumes are provided to enhance the look and feel of a typical tudor dance.

Pupil participation During the rehearsal of a short mummers play pupils discuss and develop techniques to put this humorous play across to a live audience.
Simple props are improvised from available materials which pupils can develop for a more polished performance.
We hope this gives you some idea of what we can provide and helps you to tailor a day's workshop to your particular requirements.
Let the Tudors come to you - contact us
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