‘That’s the Juice’ – The arts and the power to reveal, connect, and transform

The weekend of April 25-27 marked the second year in a row that Shawnigan Lake School has qualified for STAR Fest Nationals – a remarkable achievement and a major milestone in our ongoing initiative to raise the profile of our performing and dramatic arts programs.

 

Our students had the opportunity to perform both musical numbers and dramatic scenes, and to be adjudicated by a panel of professionals and instructors from Vancouver. These experiences not only challenged and stretched our students artistically but also allowed them to connect with a broader community of performers and creators.

 

I’d like to take a moment to thank the incredible teachers who made this possible. Thank you for your passion, your expertise, and your unwavering support of our young artists. Your work behind the scenes made this possible.

 

In total, 13 students participated in this year’s nationals. Several others also qualified, but due to prior commitments – soccer tournaments, regattas, and other events – they were unable to attend. That in itself is a testament to the wide-ranging talents and commitments of our student body.

 

I’d like to take a moment to speak about why the performing arts matter.

 

The performing arts are food for the soul. They offer more than just a space to perform – they offer a pathway to personal growth, self-discovery, and transformation.

 

Here at Shawnigan, we often celebrate results. We honour grades, scores, standings – and yes, today, even ribbons. However, I’d like to offer a different perspective – one that shifts the focus away from outcomes and toward something deeper: process. The act of digging into one’s own experience. The power of being fully present, of living in the moment.

 

Because when you’re on stage – or in any live performance – there’s no escaping it. You are planted in a raw, vulnerable space. You listen to your inner voice. You respond to it. You trust the impulses that rise up.

 

And then… you go. You leap. You ride the wave of everything you’ve prepared for, everything you’ve rehearsed, hoping it catches you when things inevitably go a little sideways. And when it does, it often launches you into something new, something unexpected.

 

That moment – it’s transcendent.

 

That’s the juice.

 

There’s no control. No predicting the outcome. No way to go back and fix it. It lives entirely in that space of risk and presence – that dangerously exciting, unrepeatable moment.

 

And again – that’s the juice.

 

A final short story: when DJ and Leo received a perfect adjudication score for their scene, they actually felt they had bombed in the moment – like they’d messed it up. And yet, I’m reminded of something Vonnegut said: that art is more of an offering than a quest for perfection. It’s not math. It’s more like a banana split – sweet and messy. Perhaps their perfect score didn’t come from perfect execution, but from something more compelling: a bold intention, a raw emotional truth, a moment of connection that couldn’t be rehearsed. That’s where the real art lives – in that beautiful tension between what we hope to express and what actually unfolds.

 

So today, let us celebrate these students not only for what they achieved, but for the boldness of their expression – for stepping into the unknown, for taking creative risks, and for sharing something deeply human with the world.

 

And let us celebrate the arts – not simply for their outcomes, but for their power to reveal, to connect, and to transform. Because in the end, that’s what art does best – it brings us closer to ourselves, and to each other.

 

Mr. Salvatore Interlandi has been the theatre teacher at Shawnigan Lake School since 2022. In that time, he has directed three epic school musicals: The Addams Family, Grease, and Chicago, and guided dozens of smaller theatre and musical theatre productions.