Lion City Children's Four Great Classics Performance

Liu Chang, Executive Director of "Four Great Classics for Children in Singapore" - Quotes

Time flies, and the end of the year is approaching. Let's stop and look back and summarize our growth. Let's start from this day last month. The "Lion City Children's Four Great Classics Performance" hosted by the Golden Microphone Learning Center and supported by the Bedok Community Center was performed at 3 pm on November 17th and 7 pm in the evening. It ended successfully at the Bedok Community Center and received unanimous praise and affirmation from guests and audiences from all walks of life. The children learned about historical figures and mythological stories in classical novels through learning performances.

In organizing the “Lion City Children's Four Great Classics Performance”, we incorporate drama methods and techniques into language teaching to improve language learning outcomes. Through character role-playing, we stimulate children’s interest in learning Chinese. We hope that during the rehearsal process, they will feel the values conveyed by traditional culture and the sentiments that cultivate their spirits.

The first performance was "Daiyu resettled at the Jia Manor". The young actors performed with a steady style, vivid and lively performance, and classical beauty, which attracted the audience's attention as soon as they appeared on stage. The classic aria "From heaven falled an angel" was performed by tender children with a unique charm. It makes people travel through the time tunnel and feel like they are in Rongguo Mansion.

Every child has different talents and specialties, and they can use different ways to develop their talents. In the play, the children play different types of roles and contribute their own strength to the success of the play. "Lin Chong and Lu Zhishen" is a group play in which the actors show their talents. The playboy who bullies others by taking advantage of his power, the slave who flatters, the scholar who sells his friends for fame, and a group of small people who have clear likes and dislikes, all these characters have strong contrasts, bringing rich drama. The children's hard work made the audience laugh constantly.

The third play is "Borrowing Arrows with thatched Boat", which comes from the 46th chapter of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and is a wonderful story familiar to local primary school students. This is a play performed by boys only. During the rehearsal process, this group of 8-10-year-old boys carefully studied the roles, practiced the use of props and stage scheduling, divided the work independently, cooperated with each other, and had strong discipline. During the performance, they pronounced the words clearly, and grasped the characteristics of the characters and the inner rhythm properly. During the rehearsal process, the children's ability of interpersonal communication and division of labor and cooperation has also been greatly improved, which deserves praise!

The last one to appear is "Monkey Makes Three Attempts to Borrow the Plantain Fan", which is based on the 61st chapter of "Journey to the West". The Huoyan Mountain in the story is located in the north-central part of the Turpan Basin in Xinjiang, China. Ancient books call Huoyan Mountain Chishi Mountain, and Mongolian calls it Ulan Hada, which means Red Mountain. Sun Wukong is a popular character in "Journey to the West".The Golden Microphone Learning Centre's "Monkey Makes Three Attempts to Borrow the Plantain Fan" is a rare Yang Opera performance in Singapore. Not long ago, we performed the first Yang Opera "Chidori King and Monkey General" on the local stage at the Asian Civilisations Museum, sowing the seeds of the first Yang Opera in Singapore. Yang Opera is a local opera in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. It is one of the national intangible cultural heritages and was introduced to Shanghai more than a hundred years ago. Yang Opera music belongs to the qupai style and is very pleasant to listen to.

The children worked hard in rehearsals and learned to integrate music, dance, opera and drama performances, which benefited them a lot. In the compact and interesting plot, the children's outstanding performances conveyed the spirit of "perseverance", "wisdom and courage" to the audience.

The two Monkey Kings in both the day and night shows were vividly portrayed, and their series of somersaults won applause. Zhu Bajie was naive, Tang Monk was compassionate, Monk Sha was loyal, Princess Iron Fan was arrogant and skilled in martial arts, and a group of little demons sang and danced, lively and cute, while the dancers of the Dance of Fire showed strength and beauty. Both shows received a warm response, and the audience watched with great interest, feeling the charm of traditional culture in laughter.

The good news is that some children have broken through their own limitations through rehearsals, changed their personalities and habits, and transformed themselves into confident and shining people. Isn't this the meaning of education?