Sonoma State University
Language Festival 2008
German Program
Cabaret Performance

We are very pleased to augment our traditional Deutsch-Wettbewerb with an exciting multilingual Cabaret event, which gives the different language communities of the Bay Area an opportunity to stage creative performances in various languages. Once again, we are hoping to attract students and faculty who can perform as musicians, dancers, actors, etc. If you and your students would like to be represented in this part of the Language Festival, please send an email by March 21 to the representative of the SSU Language Clubs, Kari Whalen (whalenka(at)sonoma.edu). Proposals will be evaluated by the SSU Language Clubs who are organizing the cabaret, and candidates will be informed as soon as possible whether they have been selected to perform. We welcome participation by students of all levels of language and performance.

A note about performing: We encourage you to present a piece that fits well into a cabaret. We are looking for performances that are lively and that members of the audience who do not understand the language you use will enjoy watching, too. Please consider songs, dances, traditional cabaret numbers, or other kinds of performances that are fun, clearly acted out, and full of energy.

Please note that performances should not exceed 5 minutes in length.

Ideas on how to get your students interested in developing a cabaret proposal and performing:

• Start with what your students know: do they sing, dance, play music, etc.?
• Beginning students could sing simple songs (fun children's songs, i.e. "Auf der Lauer, auf der Mauer..." or German pop songs)
• Students or their teachers, family members, or friends, could put together a humorous performance in the target language
• Singing can be a fun exercise for diction and a fun thing to watch (German Hip Hop? We have seen some great numbers in the past!)
• For any of the above, remember to:
• face the audience;
• project your voice, or use a microphone;
• practice using a microphone;
• ask about your venue (stage, floor covering, etc.);
• bring your props if you have any;
• think about costumes; easy ideas can go far;
• think make-up!
• Have participants fill out a proposal form (form will be available on our SSU Language Festival site soon) and email it to Kari Whalen
• Have your students rehearse their number(s) in class or at a school meeting; ask students for feedback and ideas for improvement.
• Tip: Offer extra credit to your students, or make it part of a semester project
• Above all: Viel Spass!