An enchanting tribal item

I have no idea what this musical instrument is called. But the sound it produces can only be described as sweet
and haunting....especially in the hands of these girls dressed in green. The music is quite similar to the ones I've heard before performed by some hill tribes in the vast expanse of China.

These girls were very good. They managed to play the tunes and danced gently at the same time.
[ Thanks to Melissa who emailed me today....this instrument is called " hu lu si ". ]

Their costumes are authentic and depict the dress culture and style of the tribe very well.

Some GSPS kids in rapt attention, taking it all in.

Brilliant Solo Performances!

These are 3 of the very talented girls from Shui Guo Hu Primary School who performed that day. This girl, dressed in a beautiful yellow costume, is an exceptionally good dancer. She did a sort of Mongolian dance which required exquisite movements. It was so authentic that I kept wondering if she was of Mongolian descent!
Then we were entertained by a girl playing the erhu....which produced some lovely and melodious tunes.

The Guzheng is one of the most loved musical instruments even in ancient China.

Here, the girl dressed in red, showed everyone how talented she was. The piece she played was not an easy one requiring fast plucking, concentration and co-ordination. But the quality was excellent!

The performance by GSPS

The trio of Jessica, Melissa and Dennis had been working with the 25 kids from their school even before the trip began. And it included practising and rehearsing for this item for which they brought along our local ethnic costumes....Malay, Chinese, Indian and even our national SIA icon, the SIA sarong and kebaya outfit.
It was quite a colourful parade of the styles of Singapore!
When they were ready, they assembled at the front and waited for the accompanying music to be played.

Their teachers, D2 and even myself, were keeping our fingers crossed that can pull it off without any panic or nervousness. Soon as the music started and they moved and gyrated in unison, it was smooth going all the way. D2 and myself found ourselves applauding loudly...and so did the others. They gave a good account of themselves out there and proudly kept their school flag flying.

I could see that the trio of teachers were quite happy and ...relieved! I recall that the night before this, the trio had an informal meeting with D2 in our hotel room where they went over the preparations for the performance and also the Power-point presentation. As I sat in on their discussion, I offered my input culled from long years of involvement with similar type of students' performances, in somewhat similar settings too. Because Singapore has a very young history, we haven't got an established culture of songs, dance and music unlike what we see in other countries. But as I always emphasised when I was involved in such events, that, that in itself, is no excuse for us not to perform or even under perform in the presence of foreign guests.

The key factor is not the type of dance chosen. It is to always perform it well...whatever is decided upon.

As the NIKE advert says so aptly...

" Just Do It ! ".

And may I add ...enjoy it!

It is when they enjoy it that they can give of their best.

Musical Chairs....the Game !

One item on the programme was the game of Musical Chairs. Chairs were placed on the staged area. A call then went out for volunteer participants. Many hands went up immediately. Here, in this photo, you can see some of these hands as well as the doting parents...many had to take time off from work to be there in support. But I guess they wouldn't have wanted to miss this anyway. Seeing one's child perform together with others is indeed a great joy.

The game began in earnest with about 10 chairs....that meant 11 participants who will circle in one direction as the music is played, all keeping their eagle sharp eyes on the nearest chair...until the music suddenly stops.

Then pandemonium reigns!

Everyone "fighting" to place his or her bum onto a chair seat. No...there isn't any violence involved at all. On the other hand, there is much incredulous laughter, especially when the last one to react sits on the lap of a girl or boy. Ha Ha! The judges decide who is out, remove another chair and the game resumes. This continues until only two players are left with only one chair. That was what happened in the next two photos. A SGH girl and a GSPS boy were the only ones remaining in the game.

All watched in eager anticipation. At this point in this game, luck will be a factor as the chair's seat can only be facing in one direction. So, if the music stops at the point where you are behind the seat....you normally lose out.
GSPS boy has the final luck!

He raised his arms in truimph and was cheered by one and all, receiving a prize for his efforts.

An appreciative audience !

The pupils of the school are very talented and were able to put up different kinds of music, song and dance items.

Here, the girls were setting the mood by performing a modern disco dance item to lively rock beat.

This was where the guests sat.

D2, Jessica, Mr Zheng, Mdm Gu, Mdm Liu and after them were some of the parents.

All were captivated by the various performances.

Most of the parents brought along not only their digital cameras but also their video recorders.

A few GSPS students all dressed up to perform later on with some of the SGH parents moving about to capture the best shots.

Combined Performance by GSPS and Shui GuoHu Primary

One of the major highlights of this GSPS and SGH student exchange programme must surely be the Combined Performance that students of both schools put up on the 2nd last day of the programme. This took place that afternoon of 28th May 2008 at the air-conditioned theatrette of their school. Present were the parents, Principal, Vice-Principals and staff of SGH, as well as ourselves.
The full Performance consisted of about 9 or 10 items. They had a programme sheet for the audience.

The photo:
Announcing the event was Mr Ye,...my kinsmen !




These four SGH pupils all dressed in their official school uniforms were hand-picked to host the event as Master of Ceremonies ( emcees ).
All 4 of them impressed me greatly with their spoken English,..... pronunciation of words, clarity of expressions,
emphasis and stage confidence.
I do not have their names here.
Anyone who is reading this very blogpost and can find out their names for me... please do me a favour and add them under the comments section.
I give you my thanks in advance! For now, starting from the left,


I will name them Doe, Ray, Me and Far....after the musical notes. These 4 pupils projected themselves and carried out their roles so well that much credit must certainly go to their teachers who had coached them.

The 1st item was a dance routine performed exquisitely by these young girls...in full costume and make-up.
Each carried a red rubber ball.



This was a solo performance by a very talented
SGH violinist.
He played the selected piece extremely well, I must say.