To celebrate Lunar New Year we spoke with Liz Chi Yen Liew, composer of our Chinese Zodiac Dance Workshop based on The Great Race.

Here she demonstrates how the instruments are used in the music, and speaks about her inspiration and approach when composing the piece.

A few years ago we were lucky enough to work with John Nicholson of Peepolykus theatre company: John directed our musical theatre production of Hercules.

John is currently working with composer Alex Rudd to create a song in response to and to help draw attention to the crisis facing our industry. The finished product will be shared on social media - and the demo sounds great!

As schools begin to return we are looking at how we might be able to deliver workshops remotely directly in to schools so that we don’t need to enter class “bubbles”.

Like so many people over the lockdown we’ve become fairly used to talking to friends over Zoom, and as we begin to explore how best to use it for workshops I thought we should share our discoveries publicly.

Last week, as schools were launching a new academic year, West End in Schools were embarking on our own kind of journey. Our mission: travel the world in 80 days. In a 55 minute musical. In a show that can fit into a school hall.

Specifically, we were back in the rehearsal room putting together our brand new musical Around the World in 80 Days, based on the classic adventure novel by Jules Verne.

How can we teach climate change to children in a way that feels productive, and not terrifying? Back in March our Creative Director Abi began working with a group of primary school teachers, environment experts and some of our most experienced drama facilitators to answer this exact question…

Inspiring children to bring books to life with dance is one of our favourite things to do at West End in Schools. Just last week we gathered some of the country’s most talented dancers in one room, to work through the choreography for our Bringing Books to Life dance workshops in primary schools. We spoke to a few of our regular West End in Schools choreographers to find out more about their work with us to inspire children to dance.

West End in Schools’ Literacy Musicals are created to inspire a love of reading and storytelling. Each one includes an original story and songs while featuring contemporary children’s books as part of its narrative. Ahead of World Book Day 2019 we spoke to the writer of the musicals, Craig Christie.

The cow and the pussy-cat went on tour
With their pantomimes UK-wide.
The cow said, “honey, we’ll earn some money,
So join me on this year’s ride…

Putting together a panto season, complete with five different pantomimes on offer to schools, is no mean feat. As rehearsals draw to a close and with the first panto performances underway, we wanted to fill you in on what’s been happening behind the scenes at West End in Schools HQ.

Back in October a class of Year 6 children in London were taking part in a workshop about the First World War. Their session focused on the Battle of the Somme. As they explored the experience of the soldiers and the news reports from the time, something didn’t seem right. The explosive descriptions of the battle clashed with the reports that declared ‘Everything has gone well!’ It was confusing until they began discussing it in the context of today. Why would the news say something that wasn’t true? That just makes it fake news doesn’t it?