CNY Dragon Dancing

After weeks of intense training, the Sha Tin College dragon dance team displayed a spectacular performance on the last day of school before the annual Chinese New Year break.  Lasting approximately 3 minutes, the performance was performed under the supervision of Mr Mike Chiu, a chemistry teacher and environmental action enthusiast, and Shi Hing, an external coach mentor specialised in dragon dancing.

The dance in action!  

Contrary to the common Sha Tin college student body belief, dragon dancing is extremely engaging and physically challenging.  “It’s honestly quite difficult to concentrate for 1.5 hours every training session after a long day of school,” said Dana Tsoi, a year 12 student in the dragon dance team, “My arms ached from waving the dragon pole for several days after each session.”  It seems as though Dana isn’t the only one who faced physical challenges, for another member of the dragon dance team (who wishes to stay anonymous) said: “As tiring as dragon dancing is, I do feel as though my biceps have gained a little after each dragon dance session, so the pain is *definitely* worth it. If anyone wants a full upper arm workout, I’d definitely recommend them to join the dragon dance team!”

Olivia, Isabella and Dana with their dragon

As with all team activities, working together is sometimes a challenge, but it seems as though the dragon dance team have their own special way of solving these quarrels. “it’s quite difficult to cooperate with kids from all different year groups and conflicts occur inevitably almost every training session,” said an anonymous member of the dragon dance team. “I like to think of our conflicts as interpersonal communication skills, and become the median to dissolving our arguments. It’s amazing how supportive of each other we can be once all misunderstandings clear.”

Meet the dragon dance team!

The dragon dance team signup is available annually during the second academic term on the school gateway system, and is open for all year groups and has training sessions every Wednesday after school for the duration of the academic term.  See you next year!

Isabella Ko 12D2