ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a stage performance of a group of nine-year old children at the Snape Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, scene of many Britten premieres. The children were in an indefinable state that meant they were about to perform in front of their parents, but also in front of other adults too. A class has designed masks for the production. The dancers hold them on sticks in front of their faces. The ‘Happy’ music is first. It’s still very country dance. The children - there is at least one boy in each dance group - skip around the stage to the cheerful music. The masks are yellow. For ‘Angry’, the lights dim. The masks are orange. Blue masks: the ‘Sad’ dance. ’Surprise’ is white, provokes laughter, and then it is over. The author congratulates the children for their brilliant performance.
