Stage Arts

This year has been a landmark year for the Stage Arts Change Agents as after much hard work and training, our Change Agents were not only one of the top 12 schools to get through to the preliminary rounds, they also progressed to the quarter finals of “The Arena”.  They certainly did us proud by competing with various top schools with long debating traditions and holding their own.  They had to go through 2 audition rounds with 50 other schools before progressing to the Preliminary TV Round.  After meeting St Joseph’s Institution in the first round, they won and moved to the quarter finals against the eventual winners of the series Raffles Institution.

Our Junior Debate team took part in the Julia Gabriel Debate competition and won 2 out of 3 debates in the preliminary rounds.  They were ranked in the top few and narrowly missed getting into the quarter finals.  Our student Navin Arumugam was among the best 20 speakers in the Julia Gabriel Division III.

The change agents also came up with three different podcasts for the National Podcast Competition and all had been selected to be put online on podcast.sg. This is in addition to their participation in the Speak Good English Week 2008 where they helped to organize activities.

The Drama, Modern Dance and Malay Dance Stage Artisans ventured abroad this year in March on a 3D2N Harris Batam cultural exchange cum CIP project.  The Stage Artisans braved the Low Rope Elements, tread on rough waters when on the cable skis and most importantly, visited the orphans at the Panti Asuhan Bethesda orphanage, where they performed a Malay Dance, a Modern Dance, a seniors drama project entitled The Park Bench and also four songs led by Fadillah’s guitar strumming and Shafiqhah’s singing. It was an eye-opener for the Stage Artisans who learned to empathize with the children who were less fortunate.

The Modern Dance Stage Artisans started 2008 with a CIP Trip to a Montessori Kindergarten where they performed and held a mini dance workshop which got the little ones grooving to an upbeat tune. Having embarked on their preparations for SYF 2009 right from the beginning of the year and gone for the overseas trip in March which proved to be a great bonding experience for all Stage Artisans, the dancers were all revved up to take on the challenge of SYF 2009 with renewed hope. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, April 2008 saw the closure of the club, much to the disappointment of the Stage Artisans.

In June 2008, Rachita Rana participated in the EZ COE (East Zone Centre of Excellence) for EL’s Speak Good English Competition with a speech entitled Love EL and came in third amongst 28 schools, a laudable achievement for Rachita’s first attempt.  2 groups of Lower Secondary Drama StageArtisans participated in the National Anti-Crime Skit competition in July 2008 and gained the much-needed exposure for the young members. 

In July 2008, Drama Stage Artisans participated in the Live (L)it Week by dramatizing scenes adapted from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the parade ground, after the flag-raising.The performance was repeated once again that week in a cosier classroom setting as the actors went around almost every classroom in a display of loving madness prevalent in the theme of this particular Shakespeare’s play.  2008 has been a fun year for Drama Stage Artisans.  Led by Mr Julius Foo, the group has begun its preparations for SYF in the later part of 2008.