An excellent final performance from 12 various arts workshops of WPE courses took place on May 11 at B102. More than 300 students presented their achievements during 2011 spring semester in multi-areas of arts, including Drama, Musicals, Chorus, Mask dance, Cha Cha dance, variance of Solo (Guitar & Melodica) and the Chinese traditional Shadow Drama.
Professor Kwok gave an opening speech, expressing his high expectation on the performance. Mr. Thomas KILIAN, Associate Director of the Whole Person Education, also gave good wishes to its success.
Among all the prudently arranged performances, Musicals “Legend”, Mask dance “From Big Bang to Final Fantasy 2” and Shadow Drama were the spot lights of the day.
Musicals “Legend” combined passionate dance, vocal solo and massive stage light effect together perfectly, with fine-sounding background music edited by CTV students under professional guidance. It told a story about a plague ruined village. Performers’ abstract but expressive actions created very depressive atmosphere. Contrast between life and death stimulated audiences’ nerve at the beginning and generated love in the end, which was everlasting.
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| Musicals “Legend” |
Mask dance was a reserved programme in the final show. Students designed their own masks according to the characters they chose. In the end, all bits and pieces mold into “From Big Bang to Final Fantasy 2”, in which brought the favor of mystery and a fantasy world of rich imagination.
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| Mask dance |
Shadow Drama, originated in Han dynasty 200 B.C., is a master piece of traditional Chinese folk art heritage. It is a specific expression of puppet play with half transparent paper characters in front of the light. Instructor said that it was actually a challenge for the students to represent in such short preparing period, but these puppet shadows turned out alive on stage. This workshop enriched students’ college life with craftsmanship and understanding of art, as well as a memo to traditional culture.
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| Chinese traditional Shadow Drama |
Apart from these main course, several vocal solo accompanied by Guitar or Melodica refreshed audience with gentle but confident melodies. The show was courageous, since some of the soloists just learned their instruments in this semester. It also showed that UICers are full of possibilities and potentials in their devoted directions.
One of the performer Li said:” It was so surprising to see all these pieces of arts, I even had no idea that they were doing this but they’ve done it! It was such a fruitful semester in the Arts workshop.”
Instead of bring a pedant, students hold more expectations on college life; Apart from performance as an actor, students also exercised their craftsmanship. Arts Workshop Final Performance 2011 was mostly originated from students themselves. This performance examined performers’ courage, innovation and talent, and they were proved to be the best. As the line in the Musicals said, “we are dare and capable, because we have passion and growth”.
Reporter:Stephen Wu Cheng
Photo:Richard Xu
Editor:Echo Li
