Brief introduction to SYF
SYF is the short form for Singapore Youth Festival central judging competition. It is a competition which takes place every year but it alternates between primary and secondary schools. It also means that either the primary or secondary schools in the whole of Singapore will get to perform every two years. This year (2008), the Singapore Youth Festival central judging competition is held for all the primary schools in Singapore. All schools in Singapore are eligible to participate in the competition. In Nan Chiau High, all the performing arts groups participated in the SYF competition last year.
CCA: International Dance
I myself, also went with my CCA group as a performer to participate in the SYF. On the actual day itself, I was over the moon. However, before I go into the details of the performance, let us find out how I, a secondary one student then, managed to get into the SYF performance.
After getting in to the CCA, International Dance, we were taught some basic steps of Modern Dance, Jazz and Ballet. As I have had quite a few years of dance background, it was much easier for me. I was the only one from my class to join that CCA, so I had to make friends. Out of the blue, I saw my old schoolmate, Jennifer. I was very surprised that she was in this CCA too! Then, along came the seniors, who looked so fierce at first sight. However, as time passed, we all got along fine. Then, the teachers and the seniors started practising for the SYF dance performance. Us, juniors, stood there looking in awe and the teacher asked us to mimic their steps as closely as possible.
We spent about an hour or two learning some of the steps for the first part of the dance. When the teacher called us in for the try-outs, we danced along with the seniors at the back in a straight line. For the first time, it seemed pretty embarrassing to make mistakes but as I looked around, I found out that I was not the only one who made mistakes. Some of the other juniors were even worse than me! After a few tries, I managed to memorise the steps according to the music.
After the try-outs, only a few of the secondary ones were chosen to dance for the SYF performance and I was one of the few. Hence, the few of us who were chosen stood at the back in a straight line to join in the dance. The next three months were followed by harsh trainings by our two instructors.
SYF Performance day: 28th April 2007
The day of the performance finally arrived. After toiling for three long months, the day was finally here. That morning itself, I woke up at 4 or 5 in the morning, packed my make-up, jacket, clothes, well, basically getting myself ready for school. When I reached the school compounds, it was as dark as night and only one portion of the school was lit up. It was the gate. I walked amongst the darkness, using my handphone as a source of light. From a distance, I heard voices whispering. I could not make out who was that but suddenly, I saw light flashing from directly opposite me. It was my friends! We all walked up to the hall to meet the other people. It was five plus by the time we arrived but we were among the few who were last to show up.
We started our usual warm-up and stretching. After running through the whole dance three to four times, we started to do our make-up and hair. I still remember how I fussed when they put gel in my hair. It took me an hour to get the gel off and another half-an-hour to get the glitter off! Our make-up made us looked like ghosts. However, our instructor said that if we do not put heavy make-up, we would have no facial features on our faces due to the lighting on the stage. We even had to put the powder according to the shapes of our noses to make them look visible on stage! During this whole time, the seniors from Chinese Dance helped us (however their main purpose was to skip lessons).
After everything was done, we all boarded the bus and headed for our destination. Upon reaching there, we were all over the moon. We were the first school to perform. The stage was about five times bigger than our school’s stage. Us, dancers, made a silent pact to do the best we can in order not to regret this. In a flash, the dance started but it was already over in the next minute.
It was really an amazing and fun experience. I realise that I learnt a lot of things from this SYF performance. For example, I have managed to organise my time more efficiently in order to do well for my studies as well as my CCA. It was always be an experience that I will never forget!
Word Count: 852
An interesting essay about her experience in the SYF dance competition! I like how this recount is very organised and it captures Geolin’s passion about dance. She remembered what happened clearly on the day itself, from the moment she woke up until the event ended. She even remembered the exact date of the competition!
Well done, Geolin! :)
2Funky 