The Big Linz09 School Project has a Name: “I like to move it, move it!”
PRESS RELEASE
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Voters could select from among ten titles for the project that, until now, has been going under the name of “(Create Your Own Title!)”:
Das geht ja gar nicht!; Gemma.Spüma.Glei; Go.Act.Now; I like to move it, move it!;
Kiwischl; Nicht genügend; Play!; Shakeschool;
Voi durchdraht; XTRA.KLASSE.
A total of 1,239 ballots were cast. Having garnered 31.8% of the vote, “I like to move it, move it!” is the winner.
About the project:
What’s school going to be like in the future? Perhaps like a model being launched by Linz09 in cooperation with Upper Austrian teachers and principals as well as artists from Austria and around the world. All types of schools throughout the Province of Upper Austria are participating in The Big Linz 2009 School Project. Play, fun and movement involving all the senses—these are the themes that teachers and artists will be exploring together with students in Spring 2009.
Students’ encounters with multi-layered forms of expression help them to overcome fears and to discover articulation possibilities, enhance self-confidence, flexibility and the capacity to assume personal responsibility, and enable youngsters to acquire social skills—all of which are in great demand by employers.
30 groups of artists have been invited to intensively accompany the school processes. In teams of three, they’ll spend eight weeks working in parallel with teachers and students at three different schools. An artist team will be composed of a “lead artist” from the field of dance, theater or performance, an assistant and a volunteer—for instance, a young teacher or artist who wishes to gain know-how and experience within the framework of this project. At least two teachers from the respective school will also be accompanying the project.
A third of the artistic protagonists live in Austria, a third have strong connections to Upper Austria, and a third are invited guests from abroad. All are experienced, internationally successful, contemporary artists.
The project’s aim is to transform the disdain that’s usually accorded to the school system into high regard, and to get a positive feedback loop flowing among children, parents and teachers. This is Linz09’s mission in this effort to expand the place schools set aside for art and culture, and to make schools a dynamic force in the Capital of Culture initiative. Just as the future of schools and education is once again occupying the spotlight of our entire social discourse, Linz09 is making “I like to move it, move it! – The Big Linz09 School Project” one of the centerpieces of its performing arts concept. A project with sustainability potential, one that links the present and the future, one that takes creativity and an understanding of culture to precisely those locations with the greatest potential and where the most future opinion leaders are to be found: our schools.
