Swakopmund – Two days in a row the Swakopmunder public was treated to the novelty of a Cultural Festival, arranged by the Private School Swakopmund. The many visitors, who made the effort to pop into the colourfully decorated school, were not disappointed by what they saw and experienced. Poems of a very high standard were recited by pupils. The musical performances on different instruments such as violin, piano and saxophone, were outstanding. Whereas the high school kids were getting dressed for the big show of the evening, the younger pupils were most entertaining in presenting their short plays and puppet shows. Apart from being able to watch an amazing variety of performances the public also had the opportunity to go on a shopping spree to buy an interesting selection of hand made articles, produced by parents, business people and pupils. The culinary pleasures certainly also were not lacking.

The climax of the Festival however was the Variete Variete Show in the evening. There was a stamping of feet and clapping of hands, when the sexy high school girls gathered up their colourful, bell-shaped skirts to swirl and glide over the wooden stage floor. Accompanied by Liza Minelli’s dark voice the ‘New York’ girls in their black suits and starched white collars proved, that even stiff, marchlike dances can be magical – as magical as Manhattan. Although not uttering a single word, Rene Wiese, dressed as Charly Chaplin, stole the show with his rendition of facial expressions. ‘A natural’, somebody commented! Apart from the dances by the girls, a ,Galaxy-Rap’ and ,Music School-Rap’ were performed by the High School boys. Fantastic lyrics (all written by the pupils themselves) and stunning appearances let the audience get wild.

All in all it was fascinating to watch younger and older kids effortlessly and naturally performing before many visitors. Stage fright seemed to have disappeared through the back door. The fact that the pupils themselves wrote and produced their own performances independently, must surely have contributed to the relaxed atmosphere on stage, reflected in the enthusiastic faces of the participants and the support of the audience. One of the visitors was heard saying: ,,The best show I have seen in years!" See YOU at the next Cultural Festival of the Private School Swakopmund!