In a scene from Lewis Carroll’s original story, Alice in Wonderland, Alice says to the characters, Mock Turtle and Gryphon, “It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.”
But for a recent event at FISW, it’s well worth the trip back in time to shine a spotlight on the Grade 6-8 January production of “Alice in Fashionland,” a creative take on the age-old classic.
It all started with a project in Eveliina Suonto’s middle school art class, where students were tasked with inquiring into sustainable fashion and the different phases in the fashion process – sketches, pattern drawing, fabric selection, sewing, modelling, photography, and the traditional fashion show. Ms. Suonto developed an idea for a runway fashion show and “Alice in Wonderland” was suggested as the theme. “It was an inspiration for the garments, but a free choice about how the students saw the story and how they wanted to implement it,” she said.
As creative ideas began to take shape, other middle school students were brought into the fold, including those from Martin Hezel’s design and technology class. “After meeting with students in the art class, my class decided they could support by providing music, stage set up, video clips, and by programming an audio ‘trigger’ to underscore the models’ walk down the runway,” said Mr. Hezel.
Before long, the original art project had evolved into a full-scale production requiring a wide variety of skills and talents from across disciplines: art, drama, and design and technology. “Many of the students had to learn skills from scratch,” said Ms. Suonto.
For additional inspiration – and to get a behind-the-scenes look at a professional production house – both the design and technology and art classes visited the Staatstheater Wiesbaden to learn what exactly takes place during a production and to view the stage for the theater’s then-current show, which was none other than “Alice in Wonderland.”
“The visit behind the scenes of the theater gave some of our students the idea to design large cards for the stage and different ways to decorate hats and other accessories,” said FISW Art Assistant, Carol Koepsell. “Students got really excited about the project and had big plans for their costume designs.“
Back on campus and with the performance date drawing near, students feverishly continued their work on costumes, set-design and tech, including sound, video and special effects. In addition to the aesthetic aspects of the show, student models also began practicing their walk down the “runway,” which FISW Hausmeister, Michael Bartmann, set up for the production. “It was somewhat of a challenge to get the models to overcome their shyness,” said Ms. Koepsell. “But after several rehearsals, everyone settled into their roles.”
As with any major production, there was some last-minute scrambling. But as Ms. Suonto said, “Everybody got their beautiful designs done in a skillful way even though most of them had never sewn before.” As performance day arrived, elementary students, parents and faculty and staff gathered in the Commons for the big debut. “The confidence exhibited by many – as both ‘designers’ and ‘catwalk’ performers was a joy to behold,” said FISW Principal, Andrea Rosinger. “The enthusiasm for the entire project was palpable.”
Following the show, Grade 7 student, Sophia Dietrich reflected on the collaborative process of it all: “I loved working together because you can add ideas together to make something great.”
After the success of “Alice in Fashionland” FISW’s Grade 6-8 teachers – visual arts, drama, music, and design and technology – are looking forward to working together on the next production. Clearly, there’s no other better choice than the one FISW’s Drama teacher, Sole Chinchilla, has selected: “Alice.”
Ricky Donnelly
FIS World Staff Writer
- FISW Middle School