Young learners from the International School of Florence took to the stage on April 17 to perform The Shadow Dance, an immersive performance of discovery and creativity following their classroom exploration of light, color and movement. The afternoon also featured an imaginative adaptation of The Odyssey performed by students in the Extra Curricular Activity Drama Club led by Ugo Benini, bringing Homer’s epic to life with inventive staging and interpretation. The production was a delightful window into the explorative approach to an ISF education, where experiential and multidisciplinary learning is a priority.
Inspired by two children’s books about color, A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni and My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss, students from grade level Foundation impressed the audience with an interactive and poetic performance using light and shadows, accompanied by a diverse and emotionally powerful musical selection. Through Lionni’s tale of a chameleon searching for identity and belonging, and Seuss’s exploration of emotions through color, the children found powerful metaphors that helped them translate abstract concepts into expressive movement and visual storytelling.
The presentation followed a guided year-long learning experience, providing students with opportunities to learn about the science of light. Classroom teachers Ms. Loschiavo and Ms. Benedetti provided inspired lessons, teaching terms such as translucent, transparent and opaque, and introducing basic scientific concepts. Through the curricular Units of Inquiry ‘How Do We Express Ourselves’ and ‘How The World Works’, children engaged in hands-on experiments to uncover how light travels and how shadows are formed. They observed how different objects affect the shape and clarity of shadows, and how prisms make rainbows dance on the classroom walls.
Leading the project was Foundation Teacher Assistant Ms. Papafava, who has a background in dance and theatre. She described how they worked together and “created a new language, one made of light, movement and colors”. The children began to comprehend the flow between structure and spontaneity, rehearsing repeated actions, but allowing for their own interpretations using movement and rhythm. They experienced the essence of collaboration and the power of performance, allowing their families a window into their learning process. Creating the props and navigating the shared space behind the screen, each child played a role in bringing the performance to life.
In Shadow Dance and The Odyssey, the students were not just performing—they were sharing what it really means to explore, work together and create something meaningful from what they had learned. They reminded us that theatre is not just a stage, but a space for expanding knowledge, belonging and the joyful discovery of multidisciplinary learning. Through the beauty of theatre, they reminded us that even the smallest performers can cast long, lasting shadows.
