Culturama: South Korea – Show Day

Last Reflection on Culturama:

From the show, one thing I’m so proud of was my energy. That was what I was lacking a lot of during the dress rehearsal but the energy from the audience during the show itself brought out my inner energy and I was able to put my 200% into my dance. I found it very hard to perfect all the moves, even up to the last moment due to the rapid and sharp movements so I worked on trying to make every move look graceful, energetic and natural instead of trying to absolutely perfect it. I’m proud of the way we all perceived and managed to have one of the most synchronised dances in the show. I’m going to use my perseverance skills and hard work in my future activities.

Final thoughts and overall feelings-

I’m so proud of getting the opportunity to dance in my “dream” dance. I’m very happy with the overall show and the diversity within our dance. I loved getting the chance to dance to my favorite music, k-pop, with some of my best friends. I’m going to miss Culturama and it was overall one of the best experiences of my life time. All the days I spent practicing in my room paid off and the compliments and cheers I received definitely made me feel like everything was worth it. I’m really going to miss this group of dancers and the overall show. I couldn’t have expected a better end to my high school Culturama experience. I couldn’t have had the show go better !!

 

Learning Objective 2- CHALLENGE (Undertaken new challenges)/NEW SKILLS (Developing new skills)

Culturama- Show Day

Last reflection on Culturama:

Overall Thoughts and feelings:
I’m so proud of how the show turned out. It was a huge success and everyone that came to watch thoroughly enjoyed it. I can say Culturama was one of the best experiences I have ever taken part in and it has been an amazing learning journey. I’m going to miss my dance group especially the grade 12s and I’ve made some really great friendships throughout this journey.

  •  What was it about this activity that I found challenging/difficult?
    I’m not a dancer and I’ve never been apart of a dance show at school before so this year I found it hard to learn the steps and be able to perform them as best as I can. This is the first year I got into Culturama as well as the first year I’ve taken part in any dance showcase.
  •  What risks have I taken as part of this activity?
    I have performed a dance which I haven’t done in any recent years. I have stepped out of my comfort zone and taken a chance with such a big event. I’m very glad I took this risk because I realised that I am a lot better at dancing than I thought I was.
  •  What actions did I take to overcome these challenges?
    I practised, practised and practised. Even when the practise was over, another one of my friends from the dance and I would practise every Tuesday afterschool for 30 minutes to ensure that us non-dancers were able to perform the entire dance to the best of our abilities.
  •  Were there challenges that I could not overcome? Why/why not?
    I still managed to mess up in the final show, as you can see in the video, I skipped one of the steps. I was unable to completely perfect the steps because I am not a dancer but I am still proud of myself as I managed to perform without any terribly obvious mistakes.
  •  How will approach a challenge like this in the future?
    I will just have to continue to work hard and work even harder for the next dancer I take part in or in any performance I take part in, in the future.
  •  What new skills have I developed in this activity?
    I have developed my confidence skills and now I feel a lot more comfortable when performing on stage.
  •  How did I measure my improvement?
    During the first show (5:30) I was very nervous, my heart was racing but by the second show, I was a lot more calm and collected. I didn’t feel nervous at all for the second show although most of my friends were watching, my friends from Dover (the other campus) and my parents were watching!
  •  Why were some skills easier to develop than others?
    Some skills that I enhanced, skills I already had, were easier to develop like my confidence on stage was easier than developing my dancing capabilities as that was a newer skill for me therefore it took longer to perfect and was harder to get the hang of.
  •  How important were the skills I developed to achieving success in this activity?
    It was essential that I gained confidence because if I wasn’t confident enough I would have dropped out and would have not been able to perform during the show.
  •  How can I use the skills I developed in this activity in other areas of my life?
    By my newly developed skills, I now have more opportunities to participate in other dance shows such as Kahaani and Dance Showcase as well as Culturama again to keep up with my dancing as it is a new found hobby!

Learning Objective 2 -CHALLENGE (Undertaken new challenges)/NEW SKILLS (Developing new skills)

Culturama – Dress Rehersal

  •  How did I show perseverance/resilience/commitment in this activity? What things affected my commitment levels, ability to persevere or my resolve?

    From the first light plot over the weekend, I was having a bit of a cold which has lead me to not be at my full energy throughout all the rehearsals yet I have managed to persevere through it. I have tried my best and attended all the full rehearsals even though they have continued till 9pm every day this week! A lot of my school work is not getting done and I am having to stay up very late in order to complete it but as I have already committed to Culturama, it is essential that I attend every rehearsal in order to make it the best possible show.

  •  How did I maintain my motivation for this activity?

    I managed to maintain motivation through the idea of a rewarding and beautiful show on Friday. Most of my friend, that are not in Culturama, are coming to watch and my parents are also coming to watch, I do not wish to disappoint them as they have come to watch me dance. I want to impress them especially as I have never been in Culturama or any dance showcase in recent years, this will be their first impression of my dancing.

  •  How did I help others or how did others help me to stay committed to this activity?

    I helped keep others stay committed by trying to compliment everyone when they do a step well or when they adapt quickly to changes in order to keep them motivated. I also cheered for all my friends in other dances to keep them motivated and proud of their hard work. As many of my friends also cheered for me, I have felt more motivated to continue to stay committed throughout.

  •  What impact did my commitment or lack thereof have on the success of the activity?

    I believe that I know all the steps properly and I feel confident in my dance due to my commitment. As I attended all the rehearsals I am able to be this confident in our dance and I’m therefore working on perfecting my dance instead of trying to learn it which other people in the dance are doing currently. I am able to help out those who need help with dance steps due to my commitment which makes me very happy as well as proud of my commitment to the dance. 

Above are some photos from our dress rehearsal. I am the second person on the left from the center.

 

Learning Objective 4-  COMMITMENT (Showing perseverance, resilience and commitment in activities)

Culturama: Mongolia – First Run Through

Culturama Mongolia- First Run Through 

Above is a video of our first run through of the dance. I am the dancer that is furthest to the left. I believe that it was very challenging for me as this year’s Culturama is the first dance I will perform in High School as I have not been very confident with my dancing abilities but CAS has given me the chance to step out of my comfort zone. I also got the chance to develop my dance skills.

I really enjoyed learning the steps as the only dance I have taken part in were tap, Bollywood and ballet when I was about 7 years old. The theme of the Mongolia dance is so different from anything I have ever done and infact, it is very different from something I have ever seen being performed. The steps were challenging for me to get the hang of and remember, this can be seen in the video as I make a few mistakes but I do learn from them. I still do not know all the steps by heart and stumble on a few of the harder steps but that is apart of the learning journey. I feel like I am progressing as an individual through the challenges I am facing throughout the dance but by making these mistakes, I am getting the chance to get specific improvement strategies and goals in order to enhance my dance abilities and my confidence in my own body as I am not the most comfortable in my body. Through the dance I believe that I’m discovering more about my own strengths and how to enhance my weaknesses to transform them into strengths. Through practise every week as well as some brief practise at home, I am closer to memorizing all the steps and being able to dance them with full confidence than ever before and I’m truly proud of my own progress.

 

Learning Objective 2 – Demonstrate that challenges have been undertaken, developing new skills in the process.

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