Riva Kindergarten Kids Perform Environmental Theatre at Arboreto

“Tree, Who Are You?” is the title of the theatrical performance that the students of Degasperi Kindergarten in Riva will stage on Friday, starting at 9 PM, at the Arboreto di Arco, located in the Arciduca park.

This will be a moment of choreographic animation where children, through forms of musical communication, mime-gestural, iconic, and verbal, will present the audience with a depiction of their “journey” into the magical world of trees, following a specific environmental education pathway.

The choreographic movements have been studied and taught to the young actors by dance teacher Francesca Bondavalli. The initiative, presented to the press yesterday afternoon, is sponsored by the municipalities of Arco and Riva and by the Trentino Museum of Natural Sciences.

Collaborations and goals

The project coordination was provided by the museum’s curator Fiorenza Tisi, together with educational consultant Gabriella Sassano, and with the collaboration of Mariarosa Mongardi. This event aims to communicate to families—and beyond—what the children have experienced and learned during the school year through their visits to the Arboreto.

Within the framework of the educational project “Once Upon a Time a King… No, actually an Archduke,” among the various schools that participated in the program (by the way, since 1997, more than 10,000 students have visited the park, with 2,500 just in this first part of 2001), was the school for kindergarten of Riva-Rione Degasperi.

Research pathway

An experimental in-depth course on the “element of the tree” has been developed specifically for this school. This initiative closely aligns with the school’s annual program which aims primarily to guide children in a journey of discovery and understanding of the world they live in.

Throughout the months of lessons, children carried out numerous scientific experiments and ultimately compiled a didactic notebook, specially prepared by the museum. However, the activity at the Arboreto does not end with this performance; it will continue tirelessly into the upcoming summer months with the creation of games and fun activities involving plants, aimed at discovering all the secrets of plants from around the world by the children.