Tasmania'Chinese'School'Cultural'Day'������ ��� �������������������������� ����

At 1pm on Saturday 15th June 2013, for two hours, The Tasmania Chinese School held their Cultural Day Show in the hall of The Ogilvie High School, and this was the biggest cultural event since its foundation. It aimed to present the students’ learning outcomes to their parents as well as introduce and promote the diverse Chinese culture to the public. In spite of the cold and wet weather on the day, all 162 seats in the hall were fully occupied, a record number of attendees in School history.

Figure1 the audience

To commence the 2 hour event, the MC's, Haijuan Han and Wen Zheng invited the School Principal Kim Phong to say a few words of welcome. Ms Phong spoke about the history of the School and expressed her appreciation for the parents and teachers’ support for the event. Next on the stage was the special guest Daniel Chan, the president of the Chinese Community Association of Tasmania, who congratulated the successful opening of The Cultural Day, and was welcomed by all the teachers and parents.

Figure'2:'the MC's, Wen Zheng and Haijuan Han Figure'3: the special guest Daniel Chan

The first performances were two passionate traditional dances, “The Mongolian” and “Welcome to Our Grassland”, which were performed by the Tai Chi and Dancing Group of The School, and won a warm applause from the audience.

!

Figure'4';'The'Mongolian'Dance'

As the first student performers, children from the kinder class were not nervous at all, though the youngest was only 3 years old while the oldest was five. They danced to the Chinese songs “Two Tigers” and “My Body” with guidance from their teacher Qin Xia, and earned a great applause from the parents.

!

Figure'5';'Two'Tigers'and''“My Body”

Next to the stage was the largest, Class 1, but the 14 kids followed their Teacher Lulu and successfully presented a fluent singing of “The Chinese Alphabets Song” and an interesting dance of “The Body Song”, raising a happy burst of handclapping from the audience.

Figure'6'–'“The Chinese Alphabets Song” and The'Body'Song”

Class 2, lead by the painting Teacher Yue Du (their Teacher Xiao Xin was on sick leave), was wearing Martial Arts costumes and performed “Morning Exercise” then recited the nursery rhyme “Little Rabbit”, the fluency of which were highly appreciated by their parents.

Figure'7'–'The'Little'Rabbit'and'“Morning Exercise”

!

Under the command of their Teacher Haijuan, Class 3 & 4 presented a chorus of “Ocean, My Sweet Home” and “Singing and Smiling”, which were regarded highly by the audience, given that all the students had no Chinese background. The day happened to be a student, Ashley Morris’s birthday, so after their performance, teacher Haijuan organized the whole room to sing a Happy Birthday Song in Chinese to him. Ashley was very happy for this pleasant surprise.

!

Figure'8:'–'“Singing'and'Smiling'“and'“Ocean, My Sweet Home”

With the well-selected traditional music as a background, Teacher Cuihua’s Class 5 recited the famous poem of “You Zi Yin”, praising mother’s great love. When the students together said “Dear mother and father, Thank you very much” in Chinese, this long-inherited tradition of filial piety, respect for elders, touched everyone in the hall.

Figure'9''“You'Zi'Yin”'

What followed was a solo show of the song “In My Singing” by Ziyi from Class 6; the second performance of the classic poems “San Zi Jing” and “You Zi Yin” by the whole Class also attracted a high praise from the audience and their Teacher Xu Han.

! !

Figure'10;'In'My'Singing' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Figure11'“San Zi Jing”'

Lead by Teacher Yue Du again, the students from the painting class presented their artworks on stage. Xiaoyu Wang introduced a well-known poem of “Plum Blossom” to the parents. Xinwen Li shared the inspirations of his dragon drawing stating that the name of “the Successors of Dragon” can always bring out the sense of pride from a Chinese person. Wherever there are Chinese people there also would be a protecting Chinese dragon. Furthermore, the traditional landscape painting is characteristic of Chinese cultures, and this was successfully communicated to the Australian audience through the presentation.

!

Figure'12';'Plum'Blossom''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Figure'13''''dragon drawing''

Last but not least, the adult class performed a chorus of two ethnic songs “Jasmine Flower” and “A Crescent Climbing Up”, earning a great applause and a capping a perfect ending for the Students show.

!

Figure'14';'The'Adult'Class'“Jasmine Flower” and'“A Crescent Climbing Up”,

!

The Taichi group then brought their elegant show of “18 Steps of Taichi Qigong” followed by The Dancing Group who expressed the long-inherited tradition of caring for the elderly and the gratitude and love of all Chinese for their mothers through the dance “Dear Mother”.

Figure'15:”'Tai'Chi'18'Forms”'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''Figure'16'''“Dear Mother”.

!

Finally, the 2-hour show was brought to an end by a choir of all the teachers’ singing the school anthem “The Best Future” the lyrics of which expressed the School's believes that love can build the best future, and as long as we love each other regardless of who we are, every dream deserves respect and happiness. They will always be found through love, and indeed as our children are the future, so we must show them the best love.

!

Figure'17;'The'Teachers'Sing'the'Anthem'“The Best Future”'

!

The end of the cultural show brought a happy smile on every parent’s face. Many of them expressed congratulation of the success of this cultural event and expressed their gratitude for the School’s effort in teaching their children. These compliments were greatly appreciated by all the School teachers and encouraged them to devote more dedication and passion to their future teachings.

Figure'18;All'together

Report: Xu Han and Cuihua Pictures: Gar and Ziqing