School Of The Arts, Singapore

[dance and theatre]

The dancers in the showcases are Yr 3, 4, the Esmerelda Solo is by a Yr 6 sitting for her IB this year. My daughter's class did the barre exercises in the 10.30am showcase and it's mostly to show the parents and prospective students where they will be at after 2 whole years of dance.


Glad you enjoyed the showcase, they are always wonderful to watch.

[dramamama70]

I'm wondering if the dance showcases were recorded? I'd love to watch but can't seem to find them on youtube. We missed the open house unfortunately

[Ragamuffin shinobi]

dramamama70:

I'm wondering if the dance showcases were recorded? I'd love to watch but can't seem to find them on youtube. We missed the open house unfortunately

Think they are quite strict on the 'no recording' rule so don't think anyone did. Unless its by the officials.
And yes... Think everyone was too mesmerised by the dancers to even record!

Am sure your dd should be able to find someone who recorded their rehearsal or something.

[JRLam]

Ragamuffin shinobi:

We went for the dance showcases and we were blown away! Fwaah! Can understand their long hours now...

:rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

Now wondering if my dd can ever reach those standards.... more like if she can even get in like that.

Same here! I watched all 3 shows! The standard is amazing!

Dance and Theatre - May I know, does every girl get to perform? Is everyone that good just because of the long hours they put in? Most of the dancers look like they are very outgoing, extrovert and really enjoying their dance. But I am sure there are a few more introvert ones and not performance-oriented. Are they being trained to perform?

[Ragamuffin shinobi]

JRLam:

Ragamuffin shinobi:

We went for the dance showcases and we were blown away! Fwaah! Can understand their long hours now...

:rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

Now wondering if my dd can ever reach those standards.... more like if she can even get in like that.

Same here! I watched all 3 shows! The standard is amazing!

Dance and Theatre - May I know, does every girl get to perform? Is everyone that good just because of the long hours they put in? Most of the dancers look like they are very outgoing, extrovert and really enjoying their dance. But I am sure there are a few more introvert ones and not performance-oriented. Are they being trained to perform?

I think the dancers were already the outgoing, extroverted ones who enjoy performing in the first place. Think it sounds like what they look out for at the TA.

[delsa]

Ragamuffin shinobi:

JRLam:

[quote=\"Ragamuffin shinobi\"]We went for the dance showcases and we were blown away! Fwaah! Can understand their long hours now...

:rahrah: :rahrah: :rahrah:

Now wondering if my dd can ever reach those standards.... more like if she can even get in like that.

Same here! I watched all 3 shows! The standard is amazing!

Dance and Theatre - May I know, does every girl get to perform? Is everyone that good just because of the long hours they put in? Most of the dancers look like they are very outgoing, extrovert and really enjoying their dance. But I am sure there are a few more introvert ones and not performance-oriented. Are they being trained to perform?

I think the dancers were already the outgoing, extroverted ones who enjoy performing in the first place. Think it sounds like what they look out for at the TA.[/quote]Hi!I watched the dance showcases and yes...the dancers were simply a joy to watch!The high standard was really apparent and it was obvious that the sheer hard work,commitment and long hours contributed to the impressive performances/dances.

I guess different personalities exist in SOTA just like everywhere else..it just gets better with experience and lots of practice and opportunities to perform!

[mummyjes]

ikkinique:

Hi, i am a year 5 music student graduating from sota in 2014. if you have any questions regarding, i'd be happy to answer

Hi, my dd will be submitting her application as music student as soon as she got her SA1 result these few days. She's quite nervous with the audition, writing and interviews. May I know what is expected from her during the writing and interview part... sorry a little kiasu here.

She will probably audition for music - instrument - piano (as she has a ABRSM Grade 5) but she prefer to sing but didn't have any formal training nor paper qualification for it, can she just sing any songs? Heard that everything starts from the beginning from Year 1, to build strong foundations, rite?

Will every music students be given chances to perform or take part in competitions or only selected ones?

Roughly how many music students are recruited each year or as many talents as the judge recognize? Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

[ikkinique]

RE: mummyjes


Roughly how many music students are recruited each year or as many talents as the judge recognize? Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

For the writing and interview part, all your daughter needs to be is articulate and coherent. During my audition as a Year 1 student, the writing part was just a english composition we had to write based off a single word prompt. The interview is usually during the audition and the panel will just ask a few questions about your daughter's character (i.e. what is your greatest weakness in your opinion?)

I strongly recommend that your daughter auditions for the instrument/course she is passionate in. She will be doing 6 years of intensive training in this instrument and it is absolutely VITAL that she loves what she is doing, be it voice or piano, because it is very easy to get sick and tired of an art form you do not love but are forced to do it everyday. As for the audition, you may sing any song (there have been auditions where singers sung 'When You Believe'. You get the idea.). Foundational training will indeed start in Year 1.

Every music student will be given chances to perform. We have lunchtime concerts that students can apply to perform. Competitions are optional and up to the music teacher supervising the student (in your case, the piano teacher) to suggest or push for. As for the number of our music cohort per year, there are currently about maximum 30 music students per year out of the 200. In my year where we are the 2nd batch to graduate, there are 20++ students out of 120. We are one of the smaller faculties.

Hope I answered your questions adequately.

[mummyjes]

ikkinique:

RE: mummyjes


Roughly how many music students are recruited each year or as many talents as the judge recognize? Thank you and hope to hear from you soon.

For the writing and interview part, all your daughter needs to be is articulate and coherent. During my audition as a Year 1 student, the writing part was just a english composition we had to write based off a single word prompt. The interview is usually during the audition and the panel will just ask a few questions about your daughter's character (i.e. what is your greatest weakness in your opinion?)

I strongly recommend that your daughter auditions for the instrument/course she is passionate in. She will be doing 6 years of intensive training in this instrument and it is absolutely VITAL that she loves what she is doing, be it voice or piano, because it is very easy to get sick and tired of an art form you do not love but are forced to do it everyday. As for the audition, you may sing any song (there have been auditions where singers sung 'When You Believe'. You get the idea.). Foundational training will indeed start in Year 1.

Every music student will be given chances to perform. We have lunchtime concerts that students can apply to perform. Competitions are optional and up to the music teacher supervising the student (in your case, the piano teacher) to suggest or push for. As for the number of our music cohort per year, there are currently about maximum 30 music students per year out of the 200. In my year where we are the 2nd batch to graduate, there are 20++ students out of 120. We are one of the smaller faculties.

Hope I answered your questions adequately.

Thank you so much for the info, appreciate your sharing. I know my dd have always have passion for piano and music related stuff but her piano teacher has been very demanding & fierce but a good one I suppose. We went to the open house and sat thru the Music Theory workshop and find the lesson very interesting, and she's humming the songs/rhymes when we're walking out. Like every mum, I just want her to enjoy her lessons. Thank you once again.

[dance and theatre]

JRLam:

Same here! I watched all 3 shows! The standard is amazing!

Dance and Theatre - May I know, does every girl get to perform? Is everyone that good just because of the long hours they put in? Most of the dancers look like they are very outgoing, extrovert and really enjoying their dance. But I am sure there are a few more introvert ones and not performance-oriented. Are they being trained to perform?

For dance an important component is *performance*, meaning no matter what their personalities, when they dance they must get into character and smile, laugh, look happy or sad depending on what is required. They are just good actors. Even at the RAD exams performance is graded ....... when you smile alot in the exam, getting the full 10 marks for the catergory is easy-peasy ...... but Singapore dancers waste that grading by not smiling thinking it's not necessary. This is one of the reasons why for the RAD exams, to attain high distinctions, performance is right up there with good technique.

From what I can see, at SOTA each has to work to earn their place in the showcases, it is a privilege and the teachers will not hesitate to pull a child out of any performance should the academic work slide (it's been done before). As far as possible, the teachers do try to include the whole class in the dance item if they are in the showcase.

Is everyone good ? Well, some come in with less talent but are the most hard working, and they make remarkable progress year to year and may even surpass the talented, less hard working dancers. Some are talented, but after a few years lose their passion when they realise how hard they have to work and fall back to just doing enough to pass the exam. To be at SOTA Dance your child must love dance and understand much of it is hard work, discipline and commitment to the art form, it is after all 6 years.

Personally I believe my daughter will receive a high quality education at the end of her 6 years, whether she wants to be a dancer, she has not quite decided yet. She loves dance, that much she knows and at SOTA, she gets a realistic view of the demands in being a dancer. At the same time she is academically prepared for the unis. in Singapore.

So far it's been good overall.