Participants from left: Keith Chu 6D, Calvin Tong 6C, Aden Su 5E, Cyrus Leung 6C, Trevor Lam 6C, Bryan Cheng 5C, Lincoln Kong 6C, Samuel Lam 6D
With adjudicator Ms Norma Redfearn
[29 Nov] So much uncertainty before the Speech Festival this year as the Festival cancelled their sessions up to 27 Nov. The tricky thing was that our Thematic Group Speaking Team's contest was scheduled on 28 Nov. I had almost no hope that our session would be able to go on; I had little confidence to get on with the training; and I was planned for other outlets for these boys' performance if the cancellation would extend...but then, miraculously, the contest did go on as scheduled. And we took part, and won!
We were well aware of the fact that we were the only group entering this relatively less popular category this year (as the rules are harsh and preparation takes a lot more time than the others!). Nevertheless, I set a high goal for the boys – they needed to get at least 88 marks from the adjudicator! And they did!
A bonus for the day was that we didn't expect to be able to watch any other competitors' work in the venue because our category had only us to perform. Yet, Thematic Group Speaking was grouped with Words and Movements in the same theatre. So, we watched all the performances and listened to the judge's feedback to them as well. That was some fruitful learning of styles and creativity on stage!
And the best moment, out of our expectation, was when the judge commented on our work and praised us by saying that we were awarded the highest score in the entire session (including the Words and Movements groups)! Somehow, in terms of scores under the same judge, we could still be proud that we outplayed the other groups!
We didn't give up, we didn't relax, we fought for a better "us" in the end regardless of whether or not there were opponents, and, we learned some valuable lessons. The topic of our act is "The Story of Rain" and it's of course water-related. Flexibility and adaptability are the key abilities of water that we learned in this amazing and unique experience. Keep this up, boys!
Dr H C Lee
P.S. We have video-recorded the final rehearsal of our performance. The clip will be available soon.
We were well aware of the fact that we were the only group entering this relatively less popular category this year (as the rules are harsh and preparation takes a lot more time than the others!). Nevertheless, I set a high goal for the boys – they needed to get at least 88 marks from the adjudicator! And they did!
A bonus for the day was that we didn't expect to be able to watch any other competitors' work in the venue because our category had only us to perform. Yet, Thematic Group Speaking was grouped with Words and Movements in the same theatre. So, we watched all the performances and listened to the judge's feedback to them as well. That was some fruitful learning of styles and creativity on stage!
And the best moment, out of our expectation, was when the judge commented on our work and praised us by saying that we were awarded the highest score in the entire session (including the Words and Movements groups)! Somehow, in terms of scores under the same judge, we could still be proud that we outplayed the other groups!
We didn't give up, we didn't relax, we fought for a better "us" in the end regardless of whether or not there were opponents, and, we learned some valuable lessons. The topic of our act is "The Story of Rain" and it's of course water-related. Flexibility and adaptability are the key abilities of water that we learned in this amazing and unique experience. Keep this up, boys!
Dr H C Lee
P.S. We have video-recorded the final rehearsal of our performance. The clip will be available soon.
