Our Head of Creative Engagement, Milly Price, tells all about our project Juliet Kelly's Jazz Kids
'What a crazy year' Everyone, Everywhere, 2020.
And it’s true. It has been a crazy year, especially for families. We’ve seen children crashing important zoom calls, parents retraining as teachers overnight, and everyone having to learn to live together twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
With schools closed during lockdown, and the threat of another sending parents into a state of nervous decline (after all, we’d only just hung up our teachers’ hats), we at Serious knew that the EFG London Jazz Festival needed to include an exciting offering for children and their families, which could be enjoyed from home.
In a normal year, we would produce a city-wide tour of our renowned Jazz For Toddlers. But with venues closed and families continuing to remain at home as much as possible, we wanted to develop an offering which was a little different. So, we commissioned jazz singer Juliet Kelly and pianist Naadia Sheriff to curate an interactive musical session for children and all the family. This fun and dynamic digital show would introduce kids to the wonderful world of jazz by exploring a range of sounds, techniques and styles through a well-known children's story.
The Three Little Jazz Pigs explores the trials and tribulations of Sarah, Ella and Nina at the hands of the big bad wolf, as well as their jazzy characters and their favourite songs, with interactive learning and movement for children to join in with at home.
This year, Juliet Kelly’s Jazz Kids is aimed at children aged up to 6 years old, but of course older siblings and adults can also enjoy! We’ve taken the show to the digital sphere instead of to our usual cohort of libraries, children’s centres and venues; this means that families can tune it at 1pm on Saturday 14th November to watch the show, or, if life happens and 1pm doesn’t work, you can watch it anytime afterwards on our YouTube channel.
