Tutti Kids “beautiful” performers

Tutti Kids at Novita

 

 

It was a charming event entitled “Beautiful Me, Beautiful Us Caberet when Tutti Kids, children with intellectual disabilities performed at Novita Theatre, Regency Park recently.

I had seen Hot Tutti perform a few times at public events and Olivier and I had heard them sing at a private Australia Day event back in January.   When my dear husband died in May, I had asked the artistic director, Pat Rix, if Hot Tutti could sing Edith Piaf’s Je Ne Regrette Rien at husband Olivier’s funeral. The girls only had four days to learn and rehearse the tune, but on that sad day in May, they sang so beautifully and every person in the huge congregation was surely touched.  I wanted to thankpersonally  the threee girls – Aimee Cratheren, Annika Hooper and Michelle Hall. (Caroline Hardy could not attend).

Beautiful Me, Beautiful Us began with a community tea in the foyer of the theatre – a large facility for physically disabled children, where I had worked for seven years of my life.  The foyer overflowed with family groups unpacking their food boxes and my friend Jenny and I sat and watched the unfolding cameraderie of a group of parents, who all had a child with an intellectual disability.  The children were like any Sunday School picnic as they played and made much noise with their siblings around their parents.  It was a joyful scenario and the only difference was that many of them had Downs Syndrome.

Soon we went into the theatre and Tutti Kids, which began in 2006, took to the stage performing in small and large groups of children under the watchful eye in centre front row  of their patron, local film-maker -Scott Hicks and members of the Tutti board, headed by John Scales. It was a charming, joyful, colourful performance of children aged from five years through to teenagers. My friend and I were enthralled and clapped as enthusiastically as the smiling, proud parents behind us.

Hot Tutti, the world’s first Alt-pop girls group of intellectually disabled singers,  also  performed and afterwards I thanked each young woman – as they are now all over 18 years of age – for so spontaneously agreeing to honour Olivier and how their performance touched everyone’s heart.

They are amazing artists who have emerged from the Tutti Choir and have been working together since March 2011. They co-write and arrange their songs and sing with passion. Importantly, they have been blessed with beautiful voices.

Since 2006, Tutti’s talented artisic director Pat Rix has expanded from three children to seven groups with a maximum capacity of 42 children. Each group meets once a week and thrives under the expert tutoring of four professional artist/teachers.

Apart from developing the children’s artistic and performing skills, the feedback from parents, particiants and teachers is so positive about the difference Tutti Kids makes to the children’s listesning and social skills, literacy levels and self-confidence.

 

 

 

s.  06re Much fun and dheiMy friend Jenny and I attended  =-

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2 Comments to “Tutti Kids “beautiful” performers”

  1. By Marie Jonsson-Harrison, 11/10/2012 @ 5:05 pm

    Lovely article and I so agree with your opinion Nadine, the Tutti Ensamble in all it’s formations are just wonderful.
    Every performance that I have seen has been so filled with happiness and joie de vivre, that the enthusiasm is catching. (I am pretty sure too that it was the artistic director Pat Rix that recently bought one of my Giclee prints “The true colors of Hindley Street” which has now been made into a quilt with ArtnBed 🙂 In any case I am a huge Tutti fan in all their art forms. Go Tutti!!!
    Love Marie xxx

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