What’s the Buzz?

Jack and his friends are going to a super party on a cloud near the beanstalk. But the wicked witch has crashed the party (as wicked witches are wont to do) and the beanstalk has been chopped off. Meanwhile, party attendee Cinderella is worrying about her secretly smelly feet and muscle-wielding Prince Charming wants the world to understand that although he might be super-hot he’s also a sensitive boy deep down inside.

This is the world of Buzz, where children learn to live out their flights of fancy. On 23 June Buzz children had the chance to show their parents the skit their imaginations had conceived at the Roosevelt Park Recreation Centre.

Buzz is in essence an extramural activity for children aged five to nine, and is about developing confidence, boosting social skills and enhancing creativity. Workshops at Buzz contain dance, singing and drama and children are led by trained actor-teachers in weekly workshops.

A recent study by the Canadian Council of Learning showed that children learn the intellectual, social, physical and emotional skills for success in life through play, creativity and imagination. These skills build confidence, self-esteem and courage, helping tomorrow’s grown-ups cope with, and adapt to our rapidly changing world.

“To me, every child is unique and beautiful,” company founder Hanneke Rauch said.

“Children aren’t naturally shy, they become shy due to circumstances. We can make a difference and give children the gift of confidence. Here shy children get a voice and confident children receive a platform to act out on.”

The idea for empowering young children through the performing arts came from Rauch.

“I studied drama, but once I got into the industry I realised I didn’t want to suffer for my art,” she recounted.

“It’s a very ego-driven industry. So I started teaching at Crawford and loved it – I love kids and the educational arts. I speak child.”

Rauch decided that her passions lay with stimulating and developing children through the performing arts, and created Buzz.

“And it has exploded,” she grinned.

Buzz kidz (at Buzz, it’s kidz with a ‘z’) focus on a theme for six months in their weekly workshops.

“They’re in an imaginary themed world for those six months,” Rauch explained.

“Fairy Tale Forest was the theme for our last six months and what you’ll see today is what the kidz experienced with that. The show is 100 per cent our own material, and we strive to keep it cheeky, fun, modern and fresh.”

It was clear that children were enthralled as they enacted a skit where they were magically transported to a fairy tale forest, where they met notable fairy tale celebrities and thwarted the wicked witch with some cunningly executed dance moves.

Buzz isn’t limited to weekly workshops. There’s Buzz 4 Schools – a Caps (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements) curriculum-based programme focusing on movement, sound and drama. The Buzz team also do team building sessions and skill sharing workshops with teachers.

“We find that teachers need skills and help, especially with the new curriculum,” Buzz PR-officer Rianette Leibowitz said.

“Right now we have a holiday programme for kidz from 3 July. Our holiday theme for this coming winter holiday is Minion Madness, and it’s going to be a blast. We also do themed children’s parties.”

*Buzz offers complimentary introductory workshops. To find out more about them, visit https://buzzdrama.com/.