The Thank You Workshop

“The whole school community was moved by the students singing your ‘Thank You For The Welcome’ song in Reconciliation Week.

The workshop sessions were invaluable, providing a context for students to understand the thousands of years of complex story within the song.

On behalf of the teachers who had the privilege to sit in on your workshops, we thank you for engaging the students in such rich sessions of storytelling – inspiring dignity, awareness, understanding and appreciation as well as lots of laughs!”

 Thais Sansom, Castlemaine South PS

In Brief

The Workshop: ‘Wominjika’ means ‘welcome’ in the Wurundjeri and Dja dja Wurrung languages of the Melbourne area and central Victoria.

In the WOMINJIKA: THE THANK YOU WORKSHOP Jan teaches students to sing a song called Thank You for the Welcome, to be used as a meaningful and dignified musical response to Indigenous Welcome to Country, school concerts and other occasions.

As students learn the song Jan tells them the black-white history stories embedded in the song.

(For detailed workshop description see below.)

Read the lyrics here

Format: It takes a two-hour session for Jan to teach the song and tell the stories within it. After that a music teacher can take over the process, or Jan can return to see the process through to performance.

Suitable for groups up to 50 students.

Curriculum: In particular this workshop teachers the history of colonisation, it’s  impact on Indigenous communities and the on-going relationship between black and white Australians.

This workshop also relates to Music and English.

Primary:        VELS 3-6, NAT 4 (First Contact)

Secondary:   VELS  7-12  (plus VCE)                      

Cost: $450 per workshop (90-120 minutes) with 10% discount for extra workshops on same day.

A travel/accom. Loading may apply in some locations.

Enquiries/ Bookings

Detailed workshop description

Wominjika means welcome in the Wurundjeri language of Port Phillip, and in Wominjika: The Thank You Workshop, Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky teaches students a song to be sung as a dignified response to Indigenous Welcome to Country ceremonies, as well as other occasions such as school concerts.

Written by Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky, the song is called Thank You For The Welcome. As students learn the song they will gain, through Jan’s personal and historical stories, an understanding of black-white relations in Australia, including:

• Aborigines and First Fleet soldiers dancing together
• The Woiwurrung welcome for John Batman when he came in 1835 to ‘purchase’ the land that is now Melbourne
• Jan personal experiences with Aboriginal people’s hospitality and welcome
• How Indigenous ceremonies compare with our customs of welcome and laws of visas and passports.

Thank You For The Welcome was a finalist in the 2005 Port Fairy Folk Festival Songwriting Award, and has been used in the Opening Ceremony of the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival, the 155^th Eureka Stockade commemorations, and by choirs at various festivals across Australia.

For lyrics click here

Listen to song (to come)

Castlemaine PS performance (to come)

Castlemaine State Festival Wominjika Ceremony (to come)

Recommendations

Dear Jan,

The whole school community was moved by the students singing your ‘Thank You For The Welcome’ song in Reconciliation Week.

Parents commented on how the 3-6 students were so focused on the singing, really enjoying it, with such integrity, as they sang it for the Jarra elders.

The two workshop sessions were invaluable, providing a context for students to understand the thousands of years of complex story within the song. On behalf of the teachers who had the privilege to sit in on your workshops, we thank you for engaging the students in such rich sessions of storytelling – inspiring dignity, awareness, understanding and appreciation as well as lots of laughs!

 Thais Sansom

Performing Arts Teacher, Castlemaine South Primary School

Dear Jan,

I want to express my thanks for your role in the 2009 Castlemaine State Festival. Your idea to dedicate a work of thanks in response to the Jarra Welcome to Country was thoughtful and progressive. The occasion was moving and profound. As the Minister for Arts Lynne Kosky announced, it was the best Welcome to Country she has ever experienced.

Again my thanks to all involved.

Martin Paten
Festival Director, Castlemaine State Festival

Dear Jan,

I am happy to provide a recommendation to Jan Wositzky’s ‘Wominjika: The Thank You Workshop’.

I’m a Wamba Wamba man (Swan Hill, Victoria) living near Castlemaine in central Victoria, on Jarra Country. Acknowledging Country is part of my protocol as an Aboriginal person, when I am performing on another person’s land.

The Castlemaine State Festival opening incorporated a Welcome to Country by Jarra traditional owner, Uncle Brien Nelson; myself giving an Indigenous acknowledgment of Uncle’s Welcome; and Jan’s song ‘Thank You for the Welcome’ – a non Indigenous thank you and acknowledgment of Country.

As I said during that ceremony, “It takes someone special to write a song like this one”, and Jan has done something special here.  I believe Jan’s proposal to run workshops in schools which aim to teach this song and it’s message of thank you and acknowledgment of Country, should be taken up by all schools.  It provides an important way, through music, that we can better understand our place in this land.

Ron Murray - Wamba Wamba

Thank You for the Welcome

Words & music: Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky

Verse 1

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we two walk as one underneath this sun
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Verse 2

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we two walk in peace by your shining creeks
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Middle 8

Some of us came in chains, some with a Bible or a gun
Some to make our fortune some came for the sun
Some of us sought refuge to start our lives anew
In this in this old land
In this in this old land.

Chorus

Wominjika, wominjika, wominjika (Wurundjeri & Jarra version)
Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne (Wathaurong version)

Middle 8

Some of you shed your blood when the whale boats hit the sand
Some of you danced with us, dancing hand in hand
Some of you were stolen from your home when you were young
In this in this old land
In this in this old land.

Verse 3

Thank you for the welcome to your country
Thank you for the welcome to your land
Can we sit down as one underneath this sun
Thank you for the welcome …

Chorus

Wominjika, wominjika, wominjika
Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne, Bin barre barne
Thank you for the welcome to your land.

Notes

Wominjika means welcome in the language of the Wurundjeri people of the Melbourne area and the Jarra people of central Victoria. Bin barre barne means welcome in the Wathaurong language of the Geelong area.

When sung in country of other Aboriginal languages, the local word for welcome can be included. Please consult with local Indigenous people.

The dancing referred to in stanza three took place 3 days after the First Fleet arrived at Port Jackson in 1788. The white colonists were mapping the harbour, and a group of black Australians cheerfully called them ashore. A painting by Luit. Bradley records what then happened: under the trees by the beach, they all – black and white – held hands and danced.

Jan is the author/writer of seven books, twelve radio features, two television documentaries and several stage shows, many of them dealing with life stories. (See Writing CV below)

Jan talks to students about his experiences as a writer across these various forms, including:

• What inspires and where his ideas come from
• Learning to write on the job
• Story research
• Storytelling
• His passion for sharing quality Australian stories
• The importance of respect for other people’s stories, particularly Indigenous stories
• Oral literature on the page, and the process of oral history.
• The publishing/broadcasting experience
• Reading and performing pieces from his work

Jan draws on forty years of performance experience to deliver a session that is not only educational but also highly entertaining.

Practical Details:

Curriculum: For all years of Secondary English. Teacher’s should talk with Jan about their particular agenda.

Duration: 60 mins.

Numbers:  Maximum  of 120.

Cost:  1 session - $300. 2 sessions – $450. 3 sessions – $560. (Plus travel/accom. to some locations.)

Bookings/Enquiries: Phone: 0417 332 065 / 03 5470 6629. Email

 

 

WRITING CV

Books (Writer/editor/co-editor)

2011 Me & Phar Lap: the remarkable life of Tommy Woodcock: Best-selling life of the young man who looked after and loved the champion racehorse, Phar Lap.

1996 Born Under the Paperbark Tree (with Yidumduma Bill Harney): Life story of Wardaman songman, elder and master of all trades, Yidumduma Bill Harney .

1989 In The Footsteps of Our Ancestors  (edited with Rachel McDinny): Story of Yanyuwa & Garrwa Indigenous communities, NT, reclaiming culture by taking younger generations to country.

1992 I Was Born: The Selby Court Stories: Life stories of people living in special accomodation home.

1984  The Fruitcake of Australian Stories (edited with Deborah Sonenberg): Collection of short stories and poems.

1980 The Bushwackers Band Dance Book: Best-selling bush dance instruction manual.

1978 The Bushwackers Australian Song Book: Best-selling volume of Australian folk songs.

Television Documentaries (Script writer)

1990 Buwarrala Akarriya – Journey East (ABC TV):Award-winning program on journey of Yanyuwa and Garrwa Indigenous communities of Borroloola, NT, taking younger generations on a footwalk to traditional country. (Australian Teacher’s of Media 1990 awards for Best Documentary and Best Australian Production.)

1992 Aeroplane Dance (SBS Television, 1992): Story of Aboriginal search for lost American airmen in World War Two.

(Awards include: 1997 International Festival of Ethnographic Film (RAI) Winner – Basil Wright Prize; 8/11/1997 International Festival of Ethnographic Film (RAI) Winner – Basil Wright Prize; 1997 Festival Internazionale del Film Turistico Finalist – Ethnography Category; 1995 Chicago International Film Festival Silver Hugo.)

Radio Features & Stories (Writer/presenter)

2009    Bilarni (Hindsight, ABC Radio National): Life story of W.E. (Bill) Harney (1895-1962)

2006 The Treaty (Hindsight, ABC RN): Program on John Batman’s 1835 ‘treaty’ with the Wurundjeri-willam clan of the Port Phillip area.

2006 The Music of Gallipoli (Music Deli, ABC RN & ABC Local Radio): Feature on the Turkish, Maori and Australian music of Gallipoli, linked with personal story of performing at Anzac Cove.

2005 The Tommy Woodcock Story (Verbatim, ABC RN): Feature program and syndicated segments on life of Phar Lap’s strapper, using interviews with Tommy Woodcock.

2004 Honouring Mother – The Nelly Darby Story (Hindsight, ABC RN): Feature program on one Victorian Aboriginal Stolen Generation family, the Darby’s.

2002 A Long Lunch With Kenneth Cook (Books & Writing, ABC RN): Program on life and writing of Australian author Kenneth Cook, most famous for his novel Wake In Fright.

2002 The Ants That Ate Plutarch (Books and Writing, ABC RN): Program on the unique library at Borroloola, NT – a 4000 book Edwardian library in a town without a road.

2002 Ned’s Noggin (The Law Report, ABC RN): Feature program on the whereabouts of Ned Kelly’s skull, stolen from Old Melbourne Gaol in the mid ’seventies.

2002 Anzac Day Promotions (ABC Local Radio): Writer-presenter of 10 three minute stories on Australians at war.

2002 Wongar (Books & Writing, ABC RN): Program on author B. Wongar, a Serbian born author with a life deeply intertwined with Aboriginal people.

1996 Yapucha (Music Deli, ABC RN): Original and extravagant shaggy dog story of a big adventure ‘up north’.

1991 The Aeroplane Dance (for Music Deli, ABC RN):  Feature program on WW2 story from the NT, which became Television documentary of same name.

1990 Buwarrala Akarriya-Journey East (Music Deli & Free Range, ABC RN): Program on music of Yanyuwa people in NT, based on the recordings made for the television documentary of the same name.

1989 The Music Tree (and Jack the Dancer) (Bushfire Radio, CAAMA): Five-part serial, with original story of Jack the Dancer, for remote Aboriginal communities in Central Australia.

1987 Travellers Tales (ABC RN): Fifteen original short stories for weekly broadcast.

Stage Shows (Writer/performer)

2007 The First White Man  (La Mama): Storytelling theatre on life of William Buckley (1780-1856).

2003 Lest We Forget  (Galliopli/Anzac Day; Castlemaine State Festival): Turkish-Australian Gallipoli story.

1996-8 Whitefella learns to Dance (Brunswick Institute; toured Victoria, NSW): Original one man show about a whitefella who ‘goes black’ and gets egg on his face.

 

Literature Out Loud  is for Secondary and Upper PS English students, and is a performance of colloquial Australian ‘folk’ writing and literature. Some material Jan revives from obscurity, some is from popular writers, and some students will never have heard before. The performance will feature a variety of English literature/oral forms:

• Short stories
• Yarns, tales, anecdotes.
• Myths & legends
• Oral literature/history
• Songs and poems, in rhyme and blank verse

With an emphasis on character and story, Literature Out Loud gives students an experience of colloquial Australian poetry, such as CJ Dennis’ masterful rendering of Romeo & Juliet in The Play and Darwin writier Andrew McMillan’s masterpiece from the Top End, A Postcard from Hell In October; writing from other well-knows such as Mary Gilmore and  Henry Lawson;  master yarn-spinning from the archives as Jan becomes W.E. (Bill) Harney (1895-1962), with an excerpt from the ABC radio classic, Bill Harney’s War; Aboriginal stories that Indigenous people have shared with Jan; and short stories that Jan has written for the stage.

It’s not the material that students usually hear or read, so it’s an experience in something that’s completely different.

Teachers are welcome to discuss the program with Jan. Please see Jan’s Repertoire as a starting point.

Practical Details:

Curriculum: For upper Primary and all years of Secondary English. Teacher’s should talk with Jan about their particular agenda.

Duration: 60 mins.

Numbers:  Maximum  of 120.

Cost:  1 session - $300. 2 sessions – $450. 3 sessions – $560. (Plus travel/accom. to some locations.)

Bookings/Enquiries: Phone: 0417 332 065 / 03 5470 6629. Email

In this performance/workshop Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky plays and talks about folk and grass roots music from many areas of this country.

• Folk ballads from early convict times to modern compositions
• Songs in Aboriginal languages (Yanyuwa, Waka Waka, Pitjantjatjara, Torres Strait) taught to Jan by Indigenous friends and performers.
• Music for traditional dance
• Music on improvised instruments, such as spoons and tea-chest bass.
• Jan’s original songs

• Clawhammer 5-string banjo (the old style, before bluegrass)
• Mouth organ
• Ukelele
• Percussion – bodhran (Irish drum), rhythm bones, spoons and tea-chest bass.

Jan’s Music Bio

Jan began a music career as a founder of the now famous Bushwackers Band, where he remained for a decade, playing thousands of shows around Australia and the world, making six albums and co-editing The Bushwackers Australian Song Book and The Bushwackers Band Dance Book - both widely used in schools across Australia.

Since then Jan has continued writing, researching, recording and producing music for shows such as Kangaroo Marriage (1989), The Repetitive Strainz (1985), for radio and television documentaries Buwarala Akarriya – Journey East and Aeroplane Dance (1988-1992), for guided audio tours Living Stories of the Victorian Goldfields, and for his own CDs - Me & Phar Lap, Drum With Strings and Secret Land.

Practical Details:

Curriculum: For Primary years 3-6 and Secondary 7-10. Teacher’s should talk with Jan about their particular agenda.

Duration: 60 mins.

Numbers:  Maximum  of 120.

Cost:  $4.50/student, $450 minimum. 10% discount for extra workshops on same day.

Bookings/Enquiries: Phone: 0417 332 065 / 03 5470 6629. Email

Home (is with my family) is a music and story show/workshop with a theme song about identity, where students make up verses about their home and families.

Home is with my family  

We can live on top of a mountain

We can live along the sea

Home is with my family.

And I’m proud of my home, for me it is the best

It’s where my friends and family work and play and rest

From early morning sunrise till the stars are shining bright

I’m proud of my home, for me it is alright.

With this song the students:

• Join Jan in playing instruments & singing, and
• Make up their own verses about their place

The ideas for the students’ verses are stimulated  by Jan’s other songs and stories about:

• His family and home town, with photos from his childhood.
• Jan’s full name – Frantisek Jan Mc Murray Wositzky – and his migrant/refugee background.
• Coming to Australia by boat and meeting King Neptune (covered in sea weed!)
• How in Australia in 1956 the only way Jan’s family could send messages ‘back home’ was by letter, or by making a vinyl record as a Christmas greeting.

Home (is where you like to be) finishes with all singing the new verses of the song, and Jan leaves a recording with which teachers can continue the song and story writing.

Practical Details

Curriculum: National Curriculum, Foundation – 2, studying personal, family and community histories.

NSW Curriculum: Early & Stage 1 (This is Me/Places We Know/Families Past & Present: Stories & Hist./Identifying Us/The Way We Were).

Format: This can be a 60 minute show, or extend into a 2 hour workshop where students get the opportunity to work on their own individual verses (or with a partner).

Numbers: The show itself is suitable for groups up to 100 students, but for the workshop/writing extension the numbers and time allowed will need to be discussed between Jan and teachers.

Cost: $4.50/student with a minimum of $450/show. For an extension workshop (where all get to write more verses) there’s an extra $200. (Allowance for travel and accomodation may apply in some locations.)

10% discount for extra workshops on same day.

Enquiries/ Bookings

The Storytellers Guide to Australia

The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia is an umbrella title for a set of shows that vary according to a school’s curriculum focus.

Drawing from his wide repertoire of songs and stories, and with pre-planning with teachers, Jan configures the repertoire to suit your needs – mixing and matching to themes you request – be they political, historical, cultural or any other theme.

To discuss the possibilities, please ring (0417 332 065/ 03 5470 6629) or email

Four example themes/formats are:

Australia in a Suitcase

Jan has a suitcase of items collected on his Australian travels, and with each item there is a song or story, such as:

• a photo of Jan’s refugee family for  a song of migration
• a conch shell leads to the story of the origin of fire
• a piece of quartz rock inspires a song of the gold rush
• a miniature of Ned Kelly’s armour brings forth a bushranging song
• a dog-spike from Jan’s youthful stint as a fettler on the Ghan railway line leads to a song about the Afghan cameleers

Anecdotes from Jan’s travels link the items, and students are invited to shape the show by choosing items themselves.

Jan’s Repertoire

Blackfellow – Whitefellow

Jan has a wide range of songs and stories about black and white Australia, including:

• historical stories of first contact
• traditional songs learnt from Indigenous friends
• contemporary songs from events such as the 1966 Gurindji walk-off
• excerpts from Jan’s theatre shows Whitefella Learns to Dance and Buckley: The Go-between
• material from radio and television documentaries made with Indigenous people, and from Jan’s biography with Wardaman elder, Yidumduma Bill Harney.

Jan’s Repertoire 

Old Days, Old Ways

As is well-known, Jan was a founder of Australia’s most famous bush band, The Bushwackers, specializing in Australia’s folk repertoire of 18^th, 19^th and early 20^th century Australia.

These songs, humorous recitations and vivid tales portray the lives of ordinary men and women, including:

• convicts who lamented leaving home

• people who tramped the country looking for work shearing, droving or fencing

• bush people who took pride in their work and skills

• families on the farm to face bushfire, flood and drought

• the swagman’s delights of a peaceful billy of tea, by the river, with a fish on the line

• the hangovers that followed a bushman’s spree, and all the quirky, funny tales that go with these times.

With these songs and stories Jan gives students a glimpse of these past times and people now long gone.

Community & Remembrance (In the land of the Long Weekend)

This format is devised to address the Year 3 National Curriculum History focus on Community & Remembrance.

Structuring the performance around a calendar of significant Australian holidays – such as New Year’s Day, Australia Day, Chinese New Year, Anzac Day, NAIDOC and Reconciliation Weeks, Harmony Week and Christmas – Jan sings songs and tells stories that explore the past and present together, that acknowledge our cultural diversity and unity and pay particular homage to the First Australians.

Jan also talks with students about how he researchers his material, hopefully inspiring them to investigate their own communities.

Students participate by singing, playing instruments and contributing their own thoughts and stories.

Jan’s Repertoire

 Practical Details: 

Curriculum: 

Primary Prep-Yr. 6: The various themes and titles in The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia covers many of the cultures and histories that have contributed to Australian society. The mix of archival and contemporary material invites comparisons between ‘then’ and ‘now’. Through Jan’s travel experiences students get a sense of other parts of Australia – traditions, environment, as well as key events in Australian history.

Regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, Jan has considerable working and friendship experiences with Indigenous Australians, and whilst he does not speak on their behalf, he has a range of songs and stories to pass on to students, both personal and historical.

Secondary Yr. 9-10: The Storyteller’s Guide to Australia deals in ‘people stories’ associated with many events in Australia’s development, including:

• Convict songs relating to European colonization and the impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
• Civil and political rights with songs about the Gurindji walk- off, and land rights dealt with through Jan’s stories of the hand back of Uluru
• Diggers tales of the gold rushes
• Trade unions from 1891
• Songs and stories of World War I.

Format: 60 minutes plus questions/discussion.

 

Cost:  $4.50/student, with a minimum of $450/show. 10% discount for extra shows on same day. (Allowance for travel/accom. may apply in some locations.)

 

To discuss the possibilities, please ring (0417 332 065/ 03 5470 6629) or email

 

For thousands of years stories have been our most powerful way of communicating. Stories are embedded in our religions, books, films and teaching.

For Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky, his love of storytelling began with his refugee family telling tales of their journeys to Australia.

In Brief

 

For Primary & Secondary, Levels 3-6 (years 3-10)

 

JAN’S STORY WORKSHOP is all about storytelling: how stories work and to inspire students and teachers to use stories in their work.

 

Format

Jan’s Story Workshop is available in two parts, each 60 minutes, but can be varied according to the needs of the school.

In Part One Jan tell stories and talks about storytelling, and in Part Two students themselves tell stories, with Jan’s coaching.

So it can be a one or two-hour session, depending on how much ‘hands-on’ work the students will do.

 

Group Size: Max. 30

Cost

$300 per one-hour and $450 per two-hour workshop.

10% discount for extra workshops on same day.

A travel/accom. Loading may apply in some locations.

Enquiries/ Bookings

Description

For thousands of years stories have been our most powerful way of communicating. Stories are embedded in our religions, books, films and teaching.

For Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky, his love of storytelling began with his refugee family telling tales of their journeys to Australia.

As a teenager he boasted a prodigious repertoire of jokes – our most basic form of three-part story structure.

Then, growing up in the Dandenong Ranges he spent lots of time swinging a pick with the local ‘old blokes’ who during ‘smoko’ would spin yarns of tramping on the dole during the Great Depression or being a guard at the Cowra Breakout during WW2.

Later Jan got interested in mythology and theatre, and oral history with such people at Phar Lap’s strapper, Tommy Woodcock, and later again began script-writing documentaries for radio and television, bringing a basis of story to all these projects.

For more details of Jan’s story projects, click here. (Content page 54)

Part One

Incorporating all his storytelling influences, in this workshop Jan goes back to the original storyteller – the person around the campfire, with only his voice, body, a musical instrument and an occasional prop – and he tells various stories – Australian Dreaming stories, Greek myths, outrageous yarns, personal tales, song stories and parables from around the world – and talks about how stories work: their structure, and their purpose in showing us how to express ourselves and live our lives.

Part Two

The workshop can stop at this point, or go on as Jan guides students in the telling their own stories, either orally or in writing; assisting them in structuring, sticking to the theme and fleshing out the detail.

Curriculum – VELS

Whilst there’s no subject called ‘storytelling’ in curriculum, storytelling is the oldest, most versatile and entertaining way to educate. The telling of stories can be applied to any curriculum area at any level.

Teachers can take elements of this workshop to use in their teaching. Students can take tips from Jan’s storytelling to use in their class work or assignments.

Jan will leave students and teachers with suggestions as how to use stories in class.

“A wonderful combination of characters, music, information and amusing drama, with students joining the performance, taking on various character roles and actively discovering the amazing journeys of many immigrants who arrived on our shores during the gold rush. Audience members participated by taking on roles as protesting diggers and voicing their displeasure at the government’s Gold License. It was something students and staff all enjoyed.”

Cathy Samson, Castlemaine North PS

More Recommendations

In Brief

GOLD IN THE HEART is music and storytelling theatre, telling the broad story of the 1850’s Victorian gold rush and highlighting the diggers conflict with the Government.

Five students take part of the show. (Scripts sent in advance.)

Curriculum: For Primary and Secondary students studying the 1850’s Victorian gold rush and its impact on Australia.

Primary – VELS 5-6, NAT 5 (Colonies)

Secondary – VELS 9-10

Further curriculum details

Duration: 50 minutes plus questions/discussion

Cost: $4.50 per student. Minimum $450 per show/ 10% discount for extra shows on same day.

A travel/accom. loading may apply in some locations.

 Enquiries/ Bookings

Detailed description

GOLD IN THE HEART tells the story of the 1850’s gold rush through the adventures of an Irish gold digger, Denis O’Reilly

Utilizing digger’s songs, music and poetry, documents, maps, flags, newspaper reports and gold-seekers tales – European, Chinese and Indigenous - GOLD IN THE HEART paints a vivid picture of goldfields life and tracks the events that led to Eureka.

And as is typical of Jan’s scripts, GOLD IN THE HEART contains important but little known information about our history:

• How the diggers stand against the government license and police brutality began three years before Eureka, in 1851, with the Monster Meeting of 15,000 diggers near Castlemaine…

• then continued through Bendigo’s 1853 Red Ribbon Agitation…

• and erupted into bloodshed at Eureka/Ballarat in 1854.

It’s a story of how ordinary people dreamt of a better life and of democracy, and how some made it rich whilst others died, the diggers all the while singing of a ‘good time a coming’.

Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky lives in Castlemaine, where the gold rush history is etched into the landscape, and so, as always, he brings his personal experiences to this show.

In 2008 Jan produced five audio tours that tell the story of the Victorian gold rush.

Curriculum Details

Primary – VELS 5-6, NAT 5 (Colonies)

Secondary – VELS 9-10

History 1850’s gold rush. GOLD IN THE HEART talks about the 1850’s gold rush through a digger’s personal experiences in leaving home on a great adventure, and intersects that journey with the politics of the day: the government’s gold licence and diggers demand for a vote that led to Eureka and democracy in Australia.

The show also talks about the Jarra people who were displaced by the gold rush in central Victoria, and the many nationalities, including Chinese, that came here and stayed to be part of the mix in Australia’s identity.

Arts: Drama and music, interdisciplinary nature of arts disciplines, role/character performance.

English: Speaking & listening

Teacher Recommendations

Thanks again for performing at our school last week.  It was an enjoyable and most informative show and  we all gained lots of new insight into life on the gold fields.  I hope that you can come again in a couple of years time.

Jenny Penaluna, Daylesford Secondary College

Dear Jan,

Thank you for your performance at Cheltenham Primary School.  It was much enjoyed by staff and students alike. You encapsulated the aspects of the gold rush (geographical, social historical, economic and political) all in one, which was great. Sometimes the students need to see a play/ performance rather than something ICT focused to get a real immersion in a topic.

Little Books, Big Songs

Lee Fox & Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky

An all ’round literacy, writing & music residency 

Thank you so much for your amazing visit to our school. It was a fantastic experience for all involved.

Anna Markham, Principal – Carrathool Public School

In Brief

Primary Levels 1-6 (Yr. P-6). An all-round literacy workshop.

The LITTLE BOOKS, BIG SONGS WRITING & MUSIC RESIDENCY combines two presenters with a wide range of literacy skills and through fun activities gets students inspired to read and write.

Format This residency is ideal for small groups of up to 25 students. It could be a small school or a whole year level.

The duration of the residency is flexible. It can be two or three days in a row, or spaced over a longer period, depending on the school and location.

There is a show-and-tell performance and display of written work at the end.

Photo Gallery:  Carrathool Public School

Cost: Please ask as it varies according to each school’s requirements. A travel/accom. loading may apply in some locations.

Enquiries/ Bookings

Detailed description

Storyteller/musician Jan ‘Yarn’ Wositzky and popular children’s author, Lee Fox, combine their many talents and share this exciting writing, music and performing residency for primary school students.

With Jan and Lee working individually as a tag team and together in the same session, students will experience writing in rhyme, making their own Little Books, setting poems to music and song composition.

The culmination of these multi-dimensional sessions will be a performance of their work.

Presented in a fun and entertaining way this unique residency is guaranteed to turn your students on to literacy without them even knowing it.

Lee Fox is the bestselling children’s author of Ella Kazoo Will Not Brush Her Hair and most recently 10 Little Hermit Crabs and Ginger McFlea Will Not Clean Her Teeth. Lee presents her author talks and writing workshops to primary students around Australia, sharing her love of writing and rollicking rhyme.

Information on Lee Fox

Curriculum/VELS – Primary Levels 1-4 (Yr. P-6)

English, Arts

This workshop/residency is all about literacy. Jan and Lee involve students in various activities that link the Reading, Writing and Speaking and Listening domains of the English curriculum, and combine this with the music, poetry and performance areas of the Arts curriculum. So it’s an all round tonic for literacy across all year levels.

Recommendations

This workshop is new! To date Jan and Lee have presented this workshop only once, over three days for all classes at the Carrathool Public School, and it was a great success. The recommendation from Carrathool is above.

“It was a brilliant production and we will certainly book Jan again. I was very impressed with how Jan involved our students in the presentation. Jan had total control, they were silent, listened attentively, and the questions were deep and meaningful.”

Billanook College

More recommendations

In Brief:

The Show: LEST WE FORGET: HIC UNUTMAYA CAGIZ (LWF) is music/storytelling theatre, with a unique re-telling of the Gallipoli story, using both Turkish and Australian material, and contextualized within WW1.

Five students take part of the show. (Scripts sent in advance.)

Duration: 55 minutes plus questions/discussion

Curriculum: For Primary and Secondary students studying Anzacs and Australia’s involvement in World War One, also Arts & English (Speaking & Listening)

Primary: Suitable for years 5-6

Secondary: VELS year 9-10 / NAT year 9 (Modern World)

Full VELS/ NAT details

Teacher’s Notes

Cost: $4.50 per student. Minimum $450 per show/ 10% discount for extra shows on same day.

A travel/accom. loading may apply in some locations.

 Enquiries/ Bookings

Description

Using both Turkish and Australian song, poetry, oral history, maps and political statements, Jan tells two sides of the Gallipoli story, linking them with his personal experiences from Gallipoli in 2003, when he performed LEST WE FORGET – HIC UNUTMAYA CAGIZ before 8,000 people awaiting the Dawn Service.

The show is structured around four events: the April landing, the May truce, the August offensive and the December evacuation.

The Australian material comes from poets CJ Dennis and Mary Gilmore, the ABC archives of Bill Harney, songwriters Ted Egan and Eric Bogle, and traditional songs from the time.

The Turkish material is drawn from poets Nazim Hikmet and Bulent Ecevit, traditional song, and from the words of Turkish hero, Mustafa Kemal Attaturk.

By bringing both sides together LEST WE FORGET: HIC UNUTMAYA CAGIZ presents a story where our Anzac legend is enlarged by the Turkish legend of how enemy soldiers found respect for each other, and how that respect led to the friendship that Australia and Turkey share today.

Jan also asks students to think about questions such as was Gallipoli the ‘birth of a nation?’, and compares Australia’s Gallipoli identity to Turkey’s, via Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, the commander against the Anzacs who became their President.

Teacher & Other Recommendations

“The performance was excellent; varied and relaxed, but quite structured. Having students involved showed that this was cool. The stories challenged the students to think, and it was great for SOSE, Australian History and English.” (Horsham Memorial SC)

“Fitted in with the study of war in Year 9 History, and as an alternative to class work gave expression to other ‘intelligences’. The music gained a very positive response from students, It was commendable to weave in the Turkish perspective. The participation kept the group engaged with a feeling of sharing the event.” (Xavier College)

“It was a clear, simple outline of what happened at Gallipoli…the students were really engaged and attentive, and the discussion afterwards was really positive…very positive feedback from staff who attended.” (Sue Wooley, Fintona Girls School, Balwyn)

“Excellent. Gave students a hands-on and visual experience of Gallipoli and events surrounding this time. Students responded really well to Jan as they were genuinely interested in the presentation.” (Jayne Sheumack, St Francis Xavier College)

“Excellent. This provided students with an overview of Gallipoli, and a solid basis from which to begin their study. The student behaviour was a solid indication of their interest and respect for Jan.” (Sarah Morgan, Ringwood Secondary College)

“It fitted our curriculum perfectly. The combination of narrative, song, poetry, student involvement, and props actively engaged the students and allowed them to consider the Gallipoli ‘experience’ from different points of view. They were thoroughly engaged and interested!” (Catherine Judd, Siera College)

“Some of the students were unsure what to expect but once Jan started they were very interested. The songs were really clever, and the students enjoyed the participation aspect. Thanks for coming out, I really enjoyed the performance.” (Angela Marsden, Lilydale High School)

“An excellent combination of role-playing, music, poetry and visuals, and the girls enjoyed being an integral part of the performance. The stories came from the finest form of oral tradition, and we’d definitely invite Jan back to do more.” (Alex Radovanovic, Melbourne Girls Grammar)

“Great for SOSE/ Australian history/ English. Jan held their attention extremely well, and the stories challenged the students to think. Involving students was fantastic as students related to their peers.” (Shirl King, Dimboola Secondary College)

“Students loved the show and they thought Jan was great, and having students involved in the performance showed that this was cool. The performance was excellent; varied and relaxed but quite structured.” (Neil King, Horsham College)

“Very good. Provides a pleasing alternative to class work and gave some freedom and expression to other ‘intelligences’. The rapport with the students was really positive, and the large groups after recess and lunch were managed very effectively.” (Graham O’Rourke, Xavier College)

“Thanks you for giving Lest We Forget as the keynote presentation at the HTAV’s 25^th Anniversary Conference. I heard lots of positive comments, some of whom said it was moving and informative as well as entertaining. I think academic conferences benefit from an artistic perspective and I think participants would have had their hearts and imaginations kindled by your performance. Thanks you also for being well organised and making the process so smooth from an administrator’s point of view.” (Ingred Purnell, History Teachers’ Association of Victoria)

“AS a context for students to explore and understand Australian history it was excellent.” (Ian Tymms, Woodleigh School)

“Jan’s use of primary sources, such as literature and song from the period, provided students with the Turkish and Australian perspectives untainted by time or the subjective nature of historical analysis. It was a great way of learning, and can have a greater impact on younger students who sometimes have a negative view of history.” (Gerry Martin, Port Phillip Leader)

“I have seen Jan’s Lest We Forget performance twice. Once in a venue at Eceabat and then again at the Dawn Service with a group of fellow travellers to Gallipoli. I can say with certainty that its combination of shared commemoration with the Turks, its multi-layered tributes to the spirit of reconciliation and the memory of those who were sacrificed moved everyone present.

Jan’s work is ingenious in being able to capture both the Anzac and Turkish experience and present it in a way that is totally accessible, engaging, and respectful but at the same time quietly theatrical. His pre-Dawn Service performance is in perfect harmony with the occasion and provides the gathering with an appropriate level of focus, sensitive to the tone of the occasion. Jan is a true latter day troubadour in the tradition of Australian Bush poets and Turkish ‘ozans’ and “ashiks’. I hope he can become a regular fixture at Anzac Cove’s Dawn Service.”

 

(Harvey Broadbent, author and producer of  Gallipoli writings and documentaries)

VELS & National Curriculum details

VELS: 9-10. NAT 9 (Modern World)

LWF is devised to fit in with student’s study of WW1, with the focus on Gallipoli as a touchstone of both Australian and Turkish identity.

In LWF Jan asks students to think about questions such as Was Gallipoli the ‘birth of a nation?’, and compares Australia’s Gallipoli identity to Turkey’s direct national link via Mustafa Kemal Attaturk, the commander against the Anzacs who became their President.

By hearing this conflict from both sides, students will find that their sense of the Anzac legend is enlarged, not diminished; and from the stories of the May 1915 truce as well as Jan’s personal experiences at Gallipoli, students will come to understand how the respect between the Turk and Anzac soldiers led to the friendship we share with Turkish people today.

English VELS Level 4/5/6

LWF employs various forms of storytelling: straight narrative, oral history, poetry, song, characters, political statements and questions that invite the audience into the story, which makes LWF relevant to many of the Curriculum Focus points listed under Linguistic Structures and Features.

As a listening show it’s useful in developing students ability to listen to spoken texts and to identify strategies used by speakers to influence a particular audience.

The distinct Turkish and Australian voices can also be useful to the study of different linguistic structures and features of different types of texts.

Drama VELS Level 4/5/6

LWF is storytelling theatre – non-naturalistic and using maps, music, poetry and song – and is an example of Jan’s particular way of telling a story and creating theatre at the same time.

For Arts Practice, LWF can be used as a study of the ways in which scenes/plays/characters are developed, and for a discussion of how various theatrical and musical styles and conventions are employed in the show.

Because students join Jan on stage, the show addresses the curriculum area of acting skills, and Level 6 may do a review of the piece.

Music VELS 4/5/6

In LWF Jan plays banjo and bodhran (Irish drum) and employs simple and powerful folk songs to help tell a story, which will add to students appreciation of the range of styles that are used to move an audience. ?