DANCE FROM 3 COUNTRIES

FOREIGN TOUCH IN MY CLASS

Actually this article is not about how I teach English to my students. But, I will talk about how to introduce other countries' cultures to broaden their point of views and make them familiar with foreign traditions so they willnot be enclosed in a kind of shell that creates narrow minded people.

I love cultures and their traditional aspects, especially those from Asian countries. There are such a lot of beautiful and unique cultures found in almost every race and tribes all around the continent. From the vast desert of Saudi Arabia, intriguing temples of Hindu gods and the grandeurs of the Maharajas in India, nomadic Mongols with their tough horses and  round moving tents up to the delicate dances of the natives of Indonesia. Each culture and tradition has its own  attractiveness and beauty. 

Nowadays, there are several countries have exported their cultures, traditions and way of life that have influenced so many people in the world. I can mention, Korea, China and Japan. Korean has bombed almost every tiny part of Asia, Europe, America and even the continent down under with its fabulously gorgeous boybands, girlbands and dramas. They have spread the Kpop Wave in  the last decade that brought very large income for the tourism. 

Meanwhile, China is one of the oldest culture in the earth. Since thousand of years ago, Chines people had been roaming the continents and oceans imprinting influences on many other cultures. Philosophers, inventors, artists even martial arts had developed largely in China and then to Asia and contributed much to the world development.

Then Japan, with its islands and the Bushido spirit of the Samurai has been making deep impression to the romanticists. Their lack of natural resources only made them crave for more and this lead to the development of one of the most powerful military forces tens of years ago. the Japanese soldiers had ransacked any place they had landed and also left bitter memories to the natives the had slayed.

After  they lost the World War 2, Japan became very advanced in technology and once again rules the world, not by their weapons but  with their high tech inventions.

These three cultures inspired me to create a performance by my students for the 2015 graduation party. I chose fan dance from Korea, word dance from China and samurai dance from Japan. I also asked some assistance from on of the school dancers, Wais Al Karni, because he is very good in training newbies

We were training for several months before graduation party and the result was impressive. I could not say that I was satisfied with my students' performance. I believed they could be better, but Alhamdulillah, everything was running well. What more can I ask?

Mika

Sarah

The boys : Adi and Bayu

Shofie