Night of the Arts:Student Talent Show Held by Metrolina Reginal Scholars’ Academy
By admin on 2015-01-29

Metrolina Regional Scholars' Academy (MRSA) is a charter public school in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was established in 2000 with the mission to provide appropriate education for highly gifted 4-13 years old students (IQ above 125) in kindergarten through eighth grade. Mandarin is an obligatory course for students from kindergarten to fifth grade; an optional course for students from sixth grade to eighth grade. After MRSA signed the contract with the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University in November 2009, it became the first Confucius Classroom in the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University and in North Carolina.

Since 2004, MRSA has held an annual student talent show in April, called the Night of the Arts. During this event, parents can see what the children have learned in the previous year. It is also a platform for students to show off their talents. The program involved several subjects, including music, fine art, physical education, Mandarin, Spanish, etc. Teachers, parents, and students gather together happily and communicate with each other during this show. This year, there were two Mandarin programs in the event. One is the Choir, A Red Dragonfly in the Sunset, by sixth grade students; the other is a Cabaret performance, Nanniwan，by seventh and eighth grade students.

As the old saying goes, “No pain, no gain.”In order to present the best performance, students practiced diligently every day. It is difficult for the students, who only study Mandarin for several hours in a week, to perform programs in Chinese. Reciting lyrics is the most difficult part for the students as it is much easier to remember the simple dialogue in the textbook. The seventh and eighth grade students have really worked hard to recite the lyrics in Nanniwan, which gives even the Chinese Post-90s generation trouble. Therefore, training students to recite lyrics was an important part in the class. Nanniwan, the Red Ribbon Cabaret, requires students to cooperate well with each other to reach the intended effect. In order to reach this requirement, students rehearsed many hours. Through hours of practice the students demonstrated the utmost patience and persistence. What’s more, Mrs. Yanshu Li, a Chinese folk dance teacher at the Confucius Institute at Pfeiffer University, volunteered to teach students how to dance. Under her guidance, students made great progress in the dancing sections.

The seventh and eighth grade students took a field trip on April 5th to the Grant Asian Market, one of the most popular supermarkets for Chinese Americans. At the market students were able to experience the many varieties of Chinese food, which is one important part of Chinese culture. Students were interested in everything, including buns, tofu, kelp, Laoganma Chili Sauce, etc. The purpose of this field trip was not only to see various Chinese foods, but also to show Nanniwan to the supermarket workers. By performing at the Market, students expressed their gratitude to the workers and rehearsed for the Night of the Arts.

Mrs Hu, a Chinese teacher in the Confucius classroom, introducing Chinese food to the students.

Students were showing the Cabaret, Nanniwan, to the supermarket workers and customers in Grand Asian Market.

On the evening of April 8th, in the lobby of Dana Auditorium in Queens University of Charlotte, many students’ art works hung on the auditorium walls. Students spent several months working to make each art piece perfect. A lot of works were about Chinese elements. Look at Sagan Gor’s work holding by his hands, the Chinese Dragon. He said dragon is Chinese totem, the representative of China. Looking at the dragon reminds him China.

Chinese Dragon, painted by Sagan Gor

Pandas are one of the most popular subjects for students.

The Night of the Arts started at 8:30 pm. The whole auditorium was full of students’ parents. They applauded thunderously for their children’s splendid performance. The two Chinese programs were performed at the end of the evening’s events. The first performance was the Choir, the Red Dragonfly in the Sunset. The Choir was composed of three sections. There were three girls in the middle to lead the chorus, with a boys’ section on the left and on the right. The girl’s tender voices matched well with the boys’ charming sound. The children’s performance gave the American audience an experience of Chinese culture.

Next performance was the Cabaret, Nanniwan. A small issue occurred during the students’ performance. At the beginning of the performance, the audio equipment did not work well, which made the students agitated and nervous. But they calmed down soon, and continued to do the show. The issues with the sound system gave the students a change to emphasize their Chinese ability without musical accompaniment. Parents cheered for their children, which encouraged the students during the show. What’s more, patents could see the improvement of their children’s Chinese ability through this situation.

The sixth grade students as a choir were singing A Red Dragonfly in the Sunset.

The seventh and eighth grade students were performing Cabaret, Nanniwan.