LCSD-Cultural Presentations Section

Programme Contents
The Scheme emphasizes originality in the creative process. Gleaning from everyday life and translating them into material for the production are highly encouraged.
The Scheme is divided into two sections, the primary schools and the secondary schools.

Primary Schools
Through learning and performing, students will be able to explore many aspects of their artistic potentials. The number of participating schools is limited to 4.

Secondary Schools
There will be two programmes for the Secondary School section, with the number of participating schools limited to 2 each. The aim is to give the students a platform to put their artistic talents and creativity to practice.

Scheme A:
Under the guidance of the instructors, students will transform their everyday experience into elements for a musical. Collectively, they will create and stage a new, original musical in Cantonese, from writing of the script, to rehearsals and the finale performance.

Scheme B:
This is an attempt at merging musical theatre into the Language syllabus. The course instructor and the subject teacher of the school will discuss and design the content details so that through writing the script, rehearsals, and the finale performance, and by the collective efforts of creating and presenting an original musical in Cantonese or English, the students' ability in listening, speaking, reading and writing will be enhanced. Schools participating in Scheme B need to allocate 24 contact hours within their curriculum to incorporate the musical theatre activities.

Secondary Schools
The Orientation Programme comprises 1 session each of drama, dance and music, to a total of 3. The drama instructor will talk about the textual elements, the interpretation skills, the stage effects and elements of drama that are within or beyond the structure of a play. The dance instructor will talk about the use of the body in expressing emotions and adding effect to speech, and how cultural differences affect the way we express ourselves through our body. The music instructor will talk about how different elements of music can directly influence the emotional expressions in drama and in the musical. The purpose of these sessions is to sharpen the participants' senses and broaden their intellectual vista when they watch a stage production.

Secondary Schools
They include 2 sessions of script-writing and 6 sessions each of drama, dance and music, to a total of 20. Through training of basic skills in different artistic genres, participants are expected to acquire presentational skills in musical theatre. They will take part in the creation and rehearsal of the musical production.
(Schools that opt for Scheme B may merge 12 sessions of this workshop programme into their Language syllabus.)

March - April, 2008
Auditioning
Auditioning will take place mid-way through the workshops. Through a formal audition exercise, students can have a full picture of this process in production, and be cast in roles for the finale performance. The casting and allocation of duties will be determined by the Scheme's Artistic Director and instructors.

May, 2008
Have Fun with Stage Make-up - a family activity
Primary Schools
There will be one session on how to put on stage make-up for the course participants, their parents and teachers. The idea is to encourage the students to play an active role in the staging of the production.

June - July, 2008
Rehearsals
There will be 4 rehearsals totalling 8 hours for secondary schools, and 6 rehearsals totalling 9 hours for primary schools. Rehearsals will be an amalgamation of all elements of drama, dance and music so that participants can familiarize themselves with the overall tone and pace of the finale performance.

2nd half of July, 2008
Finale Performance
All participating schools in all sections will give the finale performance at the Auditorium of the Tsuen Wan Town Hall. It will include a dress rehearsal and a 20-minute performance of the musical created by each participating school so that the students will share the results of their training with members of the public.

July - August, 2008
Arts Critique Writing Course
There will be two sessions of the Arts Critique Writing Course, held after the presentation of the finale performance. The instructors with a background in performing arts criticism will be teaching the techniques of writing a critique. The appraisal focus will be on the musical presented as the finale performance. Participants will take the dual angle of the audience and of the actors, and apply what they have learned in critiquing into practice as they write. The articles will, in turn, be marked by the instructor and the subject teachers from the respective schools. Some of the critiques will be published on the school's intranet, the school newspaper, or on the IATC's web page for young arts critics, to be read by the staff and students of the participating schools as well as members of the public.