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theechosas · 7 years

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APAC Performing Arts Recaps

APAC Choir

APAC Choir at the Bund, courtesy of Activities Council

Singers:

Risa Beddie (12)

Alice Chen (11)

Claire Chen (10)

Jenny Gao (11)

Abby Pan (12)

Jenny Cho (11)

Kaitlyn Chan (11)

Callista Chan (10)

Peter Wu (12)

Ryan Yin (11)

Richmond Brautigan (12)

Nicholas Hwang (11)

Darwin Li (11)

Benno Zhang (11)

Oliver Klajnscek (11)

Pranav Malaviya (10)

Daniel Kwan (9)

This year, APAC Choir was hosted in Shanghai, at SASPX’s very own Preforming Arts Centre. It was a three-day event that started on Thursday, November 16th and ended on Saturday, November 18th. APAC Choir created an opportunity for schools from all across Asia to come together in celebration and appreciation of this fine art, with participants including Brent from Manila, Shanghai American School Pudong and Puxi from Shanghai, Canadian Academy from Kobe, and Internationl School of Beijing and Western Academy of Beijing from Beijing. Throughout the three days, the participants engaged in group rehearsals, auditions and sectionals in preparation of the final APAC Choral Festival,conducted by by Dr. Axel Theimer, on Saturday night. The concert started off with each school preforming two songs of their choice, and then transitioned into a mass choral performance.

SAS Puxi, under the leadership of Mrs. Pek, preformed two songs-"One Day I’ll Fly Away" by Will Jennings and Joe Sample and arranged by Sam Robson, and “Balleilakka” by A.R. Rahman and arranged by Ethan Sperry. The first of the two songs was a beautiful, slow piece that allowed the raw talent of the singers’ voices to shine through. Mrs. Pek commented that the performance was successful and that “Ryan Yin was instrumental in conducting the ‘One Day I’ll Fly Away’.” The second of the two songs was a dynamic Indian song that captured the audience’s attention from the opening note. Contributing to that was the dance that the choir assemble preformed alongside it, which incorporated Indian dance moves and even the lifting of some members as they sang. A particularly unique aspect about this performance was the contribution of Mr. Guillermo Machado, Mrs. Karolina Pek and Mr. Andrew Melton as the back up percussion players.

When the festival ended, Mrs. Pek said that a highlight of the festival was that “Every choir that came to our festival which was conducted by Dr. Axel Theimer was well prepared and as result we had a successful festival.” She also appreciated the “opportunity to have our video live streamed which was wonderful,” which was facilitated by the student club SAS TV. This live streaming made APAC choir more accessible to everyone than it was before, and ensured an increased audience for the concert as people tuned in to watch from their homes. Lastly, she praised the hard work of the Activities Office, stating that “The festival was successful because we had a great team backing us up from the Activities Office (Steve Doleman) , the Theatre Staff (Xiao Ye) and the Support Staff (Tommy Wang).”

The concert was also a great experience for the students participating, in ways including but not just limited to being able to improve their singing. Singer Ryan Yin stated that “the biggest highlight for me was being able to meet new people who also share a passion for choir. All in all, it was the people who made this experience great.”

Although the APAC Choir festival has since ended, the SAS choir team promises to continue providing beautiful performances in the years to follow. According to Ryan Yin, “The dynamic of our APAC Choir will change as members come and go. Every person brings something unique to Choir and I’m quite excited to see what we can create next year.” In the meantime, we can all eagerly await whatever new performance the APAC choir team has in store for us next.

Evian Chai

APAC Orchestra

APAC Orchestra, courtesy of Activities Council

Musicians:

Nicolette Lee 11

Seoyeon Shin 10

Sue Shin 11

Hannah Zhang 11

Betty Qian 11

Jamie Liu 12

Joey Tan 10

Poem Lin 10

Ejen Liu 10

Chantal Li 10

Zini He 10

Aaron Chen 9

Luke Heald 10

Charlotte Wu 10

Vanessa Li 12

“The sound of the orchestra is one of the most magnificent musical sounds that has ever existed.” SAS Orchestra travelled to CA in Kobe, Japan, on November 16th to partake in the 2017 APAC Orchestra concert. As one of the six school orchestras that performed six pieces in unison – the other schools being WAB, CA, SASPD, ISB, and Brent – SAS Orchestra initially found it difficult to cohere with their counterparts.

“Learning music in one group and then joining another is the adjustment of speeds, dynamics, articulation, and mood,” comments SAS Orchestra’s coach Darrell Townshend. “A new conductor will do things differently, and students need to adjust.”

As noted, this was SAS Orchestra’s first time encountering the official conductor, whose job is to commandeer the whole orchestra and establish the pace of the music. Betty Qian, the orchestra’s first violin, says that she and her fellow musicians had many takeaways from collaborating with the plethora of other schools, despite the initial challenges.

“Most of us didn’t see the foremost difficulties when we combined with other schools as something negative,” says Qian. “Rather, our differences in our interpretation of the music was seen as a learning experience that helped us grow as a musician.”

The final performance, after two days of uniform practice, was held on the eve of November 16th. The conjoined orchestra’s execution can be characterized as nothing short of outstanding. Each string section articulated tones ranging from melodious to raucous, doing so in tandem to stamp a memorable impression on all six pieces that they performed.

“I was very impressed with our SAS Orchestra,” says Townshend. “They diligently learned their materials and collaborated effectively with others.”

There were three musicians from SAS who performed solos: Betty Qian, Chantal Li, and Seoyeon Shin. “Violinist Betty Qian and violist Chantal Li performed substantial solos,” remarks Townshend, “and cellist Seoyeon Shin led one of the cellos section’s most complex work.”

As this year’s APAC Orchestra event wraps up, Townshend commends the SAS Orchestra for their sportsmanship and effort. “All students behaved admirably, represented the school well, and performed with intensity, passion, and exacting care.”

“This year’s event was a huge success,” says Qian, “I can’t wait to do it again next year.”

Leonard Lee

APAC Dance

APAC Dance, courtesy of Activities Council

Dancers:

Joanna Gao 12

Jade Han 12

Chelsea Hong (C) 12

Karen Hsu 12

Yuxi Lee 12

Katie Li 11

Liliane Lin 10

Heather Lu 10

Chuli Roules 12

Michelle Sun (C) 12

This year, the Shanghai American School Puxi dance team travelled to Brent International School of Manila, along with Canadian Academy, International School of Beijing, Western Academy of Beijing, and Shanghai American School Pudong, to take part in the 8th annual APAC Dance Festival. Ms. Slaby, one of the coaches for APAC Dance, explains that APAC Dance is a way for dancers “to work with and learn from students from other schools in the conference.” What happens is that “they create fusion teams made up of a mixture of students from different schools” and “attend dance workshops together”, who then bond together. “Unlike many other APACs,” says Katie Li, an APAC dancer, “Fine Arts APAC isn’t competitive; it is to perform purely for enjoyment and to showcase various skills and ideas.”

This year’s theme for APAC Dance Festival was “Breaking Boundaries”. The dance team captains Chelsea Hong and Michelle Sun explained that their dance was “very different style of dance” compared to what they had done in the past.

“I don’t know if people realize this, but dancing slow is very difficult,” said Chelsea, “because we have to capitalize on every single beat.” They explain that it is very difficult for many dancers to step out of their comfort zone, but through this APAC, the dancers “broke through their boundaries” by experiencing such a “modern and contemporary piece”, which “pushed them past their element.

Of course, the season was not without any challenges. In the beginning, the dancers had trouble coordinating with each other. According to Katie, “[they] definitely had a lot of trouble with synchronizing the movements with each other, especially when dancers have their own style and their own interpretation on the piece.” However, with months of training, the dancers improved tremendously.

At APAC, their biggest challenge was dealing with the absence of their choreographer. “Coach Lynette, the choreographer of our piece, did not travel with us because she was due to have a baby during APAC,” said Ms. Slaby, but captains “Michelle Sun and Chelsea Hong, rose to the challenge and led the team through warm-ups and practices.”In general, most were very satisfied with their performance at APAC, as overall, it was “one of the best ones that we’ve ever performed on stage.” A highlight of their dance was their “32 consecutive turns in sync”; the team received nothing but “wild applause when they did those amazing synchronized turns.”

Seven of ten dance team members will be gone next year: Joanna Gao, Jade Han, Chelsea Hong, Karen Hsu, Yuxi Lee, Chuli Roules, and Michelle Sun. This will have been their last year dancing for SAS Puxi, as they will graduate in May. The Activities Council wishes them the best of luck and hopes that each of them will carry their passion for dance everywhere they go.

Luca Lee

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