Young Achiever: The Lion King
By Regina Smith
YCIS recognises five year old Emmanuel Teh from Malaysia, as May 2012’s young achiever.
When Emmanuel Teh put himself forward as a performer for the Global Child Day festival at Yew Chung International School (YCIS)’s Pudong Campus, his teachers were understandably a little apprehensive. He was after all only three years old at the time and was proposing that he perform a traditional lion dance using a costume that he had brought over from his home country of Malaysia, in front of more than a thousand students, parents, teachers and staff. The idea was astounding.
And so his co-teachers suggested that he first perform in front of his classmates in his year level during 'Show and Tell', to see exactly what he had in mind. Not at all deterred, Emmanuel demonstrated the skills that he had taught himself.
His interest in lion dancing came about when he travelled home to Malaysia for the Chinese New Year holiday, and while there, was inspired by a lion dancing troupe that performed at his grandmother's home. He was so interested in fact, that his parents bought him a mini lion costume and drum, and his aunt bought hima lion dance competition DVD to watch. He practiced the moves he had seen at the live performance, and studied the DVD carefully, refining his technique, and later, had the idea that it would be fun for his classmates to see a lion dance in person. He performed the dance with enthusiasm and confidence, and his classmates were amazed. “It was outstanding, as l would not expect a child of his age to do this and then to perform so well,” said Veronica Martin, one of his teachers.
Emmanuel is featured as this month’s young achiever because of how expressive he has been in sharing aspects of his home culture with his classmates, which is celebrated at YCIS Shanghai as part of the school's commitment to providing a global education. At YCIS Shanghai, global citizenship is focused on understanding and embracing the equality and culture of each and every student in a school with over 50 different nationalities.
Now five years old, Emmanuel has been keen to share and pass on his skills. He is still very young, and can’t quite find the words to express his feelings about his incredible skills, but he talks with enthusiasm, rather than shyness about his performance at the Global Child Day festival, which is regular;y attended by around 1,600 people. “It’s fun,” he says, “Some of the other boys and girls like to hold the lion’s tail when I do my dance.”
“I am helping my [two year old] brother Antonio to lion dance now too,” he adds. “But he needs to practice more; he keeps on putting the front of the lion head at the back, and the back of the lion head at the front.”
Yew Chung International School of Shanghai, Regency Park Pudong Campus. 1817 Huamu Lu, near Fangdian Lu. Tel: 5033 1900. Web: www.ycis-sh.com
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