Nuit Bleue consistently dazzles, year after year, showcasing the best in student, music, art, film, theatre and more. Here are some highlights of the big night, Thursday, April 14.
“Nuit Bleue never ceases to amaze; it’s a night to marvel and enjoy all that the boys and their teachers have in store for us,” says Arts Booster Club co-chair Amelia Rattew. “It is incredible to see how talented the boys are and how supportive the community is,” says fellow chair Laura Dallal.
IB1 art was featured along the main hallway leading to Laidlaw Hall. And the Noche Azul Spanish café was decorated with Grade 7 art, featuring printmaking and poetry. For the first time, Spanish boarders from Bishop Strachan School and students from Havergal took part. Guests were also invited to read poem and stories, handed out in the second annual Blue Caller publication.
The signature “mocktail” beverage for the evening in the student centre was Aramark’s “The Blue Thunder.” (Our intrepid reporter Heather McCall got the skinny on the recipe — blue Kool-Aid plus tonic water, plus two fresh blueberries per glass.) Students served up Greg’s Ice Cream, roasted marshmallow and double chocolate, along with goodies from Aramark. The cooking club served up fresh spring rolls and there was candy bar, courtesy of the Arts Booster Club. Free wings from St. Louis Wings & Ribs were to be had in the Blue Zone lounge.
One extremely eye-catching piece was an actual working rain cloud fountain by student Carr Norton. First installed in his backyard as a “site-specific” piece, it was moved and set up temporarily using kiddie pools as makeshift basins.
The theatre performances in the lecture theatre featured the varsity improv group. They opened the program with a few activities and games to get the audience warmed up, asking them topic suggestions for inspiration. In the exercise “Space Jump,” the action of the scene is abruptly halted, a new actor enters the scene and changes the characters and setting in strange and unusual ways. So, a man digging a grave becomes a rifleman at a shooting gallery and an arrest morphs into a dance lesson.
The Y2 students each presented a monologue or a scene from an established play. Jeremy Cait delivered an impassioned plea as Biff Loman, son of Willy Loman in the play Death of a Salesman, for his father to stop expecting him to be something he’s not. William Shakespeare was delivered expertly by the FY and IB1 students, with a notable performance from Chris Cusinato as Richard III’s doomed brother Clarence. IB2 Umid Abduragimov stole the show with his dramatic interpretation of a passage from the novel The Idiot. It didn’t hurt that he was able to start the scene in his native Russian before transitioning to English for the audience.
On the film front was the One-Second Project from College Film. These included CSiDiv, a spoof of CSI starring Intermediate Division Head Derek Poon as David Caruso’s CSI: Miami character. (Remember, he pops up out of the recycling bin to catch students skipping out on class?) Also, the IB1 fight scene project had film studies teacher David Crawford engage Simon Fon, a professional fight scene choreographer, to work with the boys and learn the tricks of the trade. Boys then choreographed and filmed their own fight scenes. There were also sneak preview of two IB2 films that will be showcased at IB2 Film Festival at the TIFF Bell Lightbox on April 27.
Finally, musical talent had the first and last word. The UCC community band kicked off the afternoon with teacher Jeff Hill belting out some Bon Jovi, to much acclaim in Laidlaw Hall. And our talented musicians ended the night with a concert in Laidlaw Hall.
Congratulations to IB1 student Max Fingold who took home a door prize, presented by Cookie–a mini digital keyboard. And congratulations to all for an innovative, expansive and creative celebration of the arts at UCC. Watch this video for a great recap of the evening.
View photos and a video of the night at our website: http://www.ucc.on.ca/2016/04/19/nuit-bleue-shines-light-on-student-creativity/
