On 30 January 2016, the Drama and Music departments ran activities for students from a number of local schools and organisations in Tuen Mun to collaborate with Harrow Hong Kong teachers and students in the first of two Invitation Weekends this year. The schools and organisations include: Lui Cheung Kwong Lutheran College, Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School of Miu Fat Buddhist Monastery, NLSI Peace Evangelical Secondary School, Ju Ching Chu Secondary School, STFA Tam Pak Yu College, Tuen Mun Children Choir, and Y. P. I. C. A. Lee Lim Ming College.
Drama
Thirty-nine students from local high schools, along with 11 students from Harrow Hong Kong, took part in a day of practical exercises and dramatic exploration.
The day started with warm-up games and exercises designed to break down the natural inhibitions created by bringing students together from a range of different schools. These varied from ball games to tag to ‘quad bounce’, a challenging exercise created by Frantic Assembly. As these exercises progressed, the students relaxed and became increasingly comfortable collaborating with each other.
We then proceeded to introduce the conventions of mask work in Drama, using masks designed by Trestle Theatre to demonstrate and practise the necessary skills. Trestle masks are simple full-face masks that are moulded into set facial expressions; the challenge for a performer is to match their body language to the mask. After giving every student the chance to perform as an individual, we then asked them to work together to create two different pieces, collaborating on longer pieces of drama that told a clear narrative.
Overall, this was a very successful event. Our students enjoyed working with a new set of peers, while the visitors gained the chance to try a new skill. By the end of the day, we’d created a new community among the participants, as became evident from the number of selfies which were taken!
Music
The Music department welcomed students and musicians from the local area who were given the opportunity to collaborate with some of our own musicians. Morning rehearsals were underway briskly with the choir and orchestra teams coming together at midday to perform and informal concert to each other and parents and other members of staff. This is now the third event of this kind to take place and again provided a valuable and enjoyable experience for all that took part.
The choir performed Colours of the Wind (Schwartz/Menken) and selections from Jonah Man Jazz (Hurd) whilst the orchestra responded with a screen/theatre influenced repertoire that included music by Mendelssohn and Soon Hee Newbold as well as selections from James Bond and Mamma Mia.
The Music department are grateful to the Harrow Hong Kong students for taking part in this event and for making the morning so memorable for our guests.
A special thank you also to Ms Wu for helping both the percussion and violin sections.
This year’s performance can be watched from the School’s YouTube channel.
Next Invitation Weekend
The next Invitation Weekend of this year will take place in April. The Art department will assist participating students to create an artwork with experimental painting techniques; and the Sport department will arrange a selection of sports, including netball, rugby, basketball, badminton, football and tennis. Students who are new to the sports are welcomed to join. For schools that would like to join the programme, please contact the School’s Communications department via email: corpcomm@harrowschool.hk