House Arts 2023

Saturday the 18th saw one of the biggest events of the academic year — the annual House Arts competition, where students from all four Houses participate in various stunning music, drama, and performance acts to wrestle for the generous number of points that winning the overall event brings. With Gandhi winning Dance, Song and Spoken Word and Teresa winning ensemble, House Arts 2023 saw Gandhi as the winner for the first time, with Mandela in second, Teresa in third, and Pankhurst in fourth.

“House Arts is one of the big house events where we get to see the entire house unite together to make four acts,” said Charlotte, the house captain of Teresa. “I participated in House ensemble, and it was a truly memorable experience. The two weeks of practice and rehearsals were hectic, which started with trying to search for talented musicians in the house and songs that would match the theme. After we decided on two songs — Reflection and The Greatest Showman Medley — we had to arrange our own score and compose the transition. It would’ve been impossible without the help of some really talented 6.1s, who I am incredibly grateful for. Since the majority of our ensemble comprises F3 musicians who have compulsory twilight and lessons on Wednesday afternoon, it was also really difficult to coordinate rehearsal times that everyone could attend. Hence, it was really touching on the actual House Arts night to see the major improvement we had in our performance and how coordinated everyone was. The cheering from the audience and support from other members of the House throughout the process was also what really kept us going on to deliver the piece that allowed us to win first place in ensemble in the end.

If I were to describe House Arts utilising the theme of this year — ‘Spirit of Adventure’, I would say it was truly a challenging adventure, but one where the Teresa spirit was truly shown, with the new bonds formed and strong support within the house being the greatest treasures gained from this adventure.”

When talking to the Head of Teresa Mr Arthur, he said, “House Arts is a magical event which really brings the Houses together allowing all the years to mix and to create something wonderful whilst overcoming a real challenge. It is always astounding to see the quality of the acts produced in just two weeks which show real skill, talent, and creativity. One of the challenges is that you never know how the students and the judges will interpret the theme and the instructions and what will be successful on the night. I am very proud of the wonderful acts that Teresa put together and the huge amount of time and effort that the House Captains, prefects, monitors, and members of the House put into this amazing extravaganza. Whilst I obviously would always like Teresa to win, I did think it was a very strong year from Gandhi and that they were worthy winners. Equally Pankhurst who came last had a really impressive set of acts as well. The quality of all the Houses is so high that it is a very difficult job for the judges. One of the joys of House arts is seeing how much the students learn and grow by undertaking this difficult challenge and the incredible sense of achievement together on the night is worth it. A big thank you to the tech crew for supporting the students’ endeavours and to everyone who took part. What a night!”

“I think Spoken Word is kind of the underdog of most house arts performances – traditionally, people don’t consider it to have nearly as much spectacle or pizzazz as the other events,” 6.1 student Justine remarked. “That being said, it was truly refreshing to see so many different kinds of acts this year; when considering how it is arguably the most flexible category among the four, being able to witness so many different kinds of acts – from dramatic to comedic to highly artistic – truly set a higher standard for future performances and, judging from the reactions of the audience, made everyone reconsider their perception of the forgotten act.  

“Outside of that, each act contained a unique interpretation of the theme, and though the competitive element of each house event never ceases, the shared wonder and excitement among every viewer for each act regardless of house speaks volumes about the effort that everyone involved has invested. No House Arts is the same as the one before – that is for unsurprising, though I am always impressed by how, without fail, new students each year succeed in innovating and redefining what their predecessors seemed to have done so perfectly.” 

Pankhurst prefect Chester participated in House Dance and shared his thoughts: ” This year’s house dance was fun and challenging, and I really enjoyed the process a lot! Although I wasn’t in a lot of dances, I was involved in a partner dance and an opening of a song with only 5 people. I’m excited to dance in front of that many people and although Pankhurst didn’t win, it was a memorable experience, especially for our last year! 

“I found house arts this year as fascinating as previous years. I’ve only watched the dances and the first half of the performance. I think that House Arts is really competitive as every house did their best and it is tough to choose the winner. Utterly sad to see Gandhi winning 3 events but at least it’s Gandhi and they deserved it, so congratulations and hopefully Mr Weaver will be happy now!”

Poom, a F4 student who helped choreograph House Dance, felt that House Arts had been an event that he looked forward to coming into the year ever since Gandhi came short of it last year. “Throughout the 2 weeks of preparation, everyone who was involved worked hard in the performance and did exceptionally well. I enjoyed the whole rehearsal process getting to meet new people and doing dancing, which I love. While it was tiring, all the hard work that everyone put into it, all the sweat and perhaps tears paid off. Overall, it was a great and fun experience, and most importantly, Gandhi won!” 

“The atmosphere in the theatre on Saturday night was incredible, the crowd of students was definitely partisan in cheering on their house, but warm and good natured in celebrating everyone’s work. All four houses gave vibrant and creative performances of the pieces that they had created, and the job of the judges was unenviable,” Mrs Truss, who attended the performance, described. “House Arts was impressive – as it is each year, with such creativity and hard work coming together on the night. I never fail to be amazed by the talents that students have, sometimes ones the rest of the college has no idea of until House Arts. It’s an event that really embodies the Concord spirit.”