CyberFair Project ID: 7087

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International Schools CyberFair Project Narrative
Title: The Extravaganza of Classical and Samba Lion Dance
Category: 8. Local Music and Art Forms
URL: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7087/index.htm
Bibliography: http://librarywork.taiwanschoolnet.org/gsh2012/gsh7087/narrative.htm

School: Zunliao Elementary School Changhua County
    Changhua, Taiwan, Taiwan

8 students, ages 9-12 years old worked together to complete this CyberFair project on February 10, 2012. They have participated in CyberFair in the following year(s): No

Classes and Teachers: CHENG MENG-CHOU,LIN SU-FEN,LIN KUO-HSUN,CHANG YU-YA,CHU CHUN-PO, CHEN CHIA-LING

E-Mail contact:

Our School's Web Site: http://www.jles.chc.edu.tw

Project Overview

1. Description of Our Community

Xizhou Township is located in the south of Changhua County, separated from Xiluo Township of Yunlin County to the south by Jhuoshuei River. Xiluo’s martial arts and lion dance performances are renowned throughout Taiwan, for instance Xiluo Qikan. Xiluo’s neighboring Xizhou Township also boasts a rich martial arts tradition, the Junliao Community being no exception. Puhsuan Temple is the religious center of the Junliao Community, also where Junliao Community’s tradition of martial arts and lion dance originated. The Community masters inaugurated Zhen Xing She at Puhsuan Temple in order to teach martial arts and lion dance. According to the masters, this had been done in the past to protect people from harm, to prevent robbers and bandits from ravaging Junliao Village; today, the two arts are both for strengthening the body, and carrying on ancestral heritage. As members of Junliao, we are all obligated to learn the arts in hopes of carrying forward our legacies far into the future, and at the same time to innovate these practices so that they remain up-to-date and relevant.

2. Summary of Our Project

Traditional lion dances are performed in out community, aside from which community masters teach the art to students at our school, so that students may perform lion dance in the community festivities as well. This year, the Xizhou Township Office collaborated with the Yunlin County Xiluo Township Office to hold the Xiluo Culture Festival street parade, Township officials invited three outstanding artists from the Tainan National University of the Arts to teach students how to make modern lion headpieces, utilizing recycled materials, and modern lion dance costumes. The resonance and reverberations resulting from this cocktail of traditional Taiwanese and Samba was so inspiring, we are anxious to take the opportunity afforded by this project to further integrate these different components, and to create an entirely new style of lion dance specific to the Junliao Community.

3. Our Computer and Internet Access

A. Percentage of students using the Internet at home:more than 50%

B. Number of workstations with Internet access in the classroom:more than 6

C. Connection speed used in the classroom:dial-up modem

D. Number of years our classroom has been connected to the Internet:more than 6

E. Additional comments concerning your computer and/or Internet access (Optional):

Internet access is available in all offices and classrooms of our school, including both LAN networks and the school’s wireless network; we have one computer classroom, each and every classroom is also equipped with a computer. The school wireless network is a 100M dedicated fiber-optic cable directly connected with the Zhanghua County Educational Network Center, and we are able to gain access through classroom computers or our teachers’ notebook computers. All eight team members have computers and ADSL internet access at home, information access poses no issue at all.

4. Problems We Had To Overcome

Organizing Team Schedules: We established a research team over winter break, comprising of students from the 4th, 5th and 6th grades only, and while team research conducted during winter break met with no problems, we could only utilize lunch break or after-school hours after the start of the semester. It became even more difficult to coincide our schedules for the purposes of interviews or publicizing. Division of labor became an important factor, we had to make the most of our lunch breaks for communicating and arranging tasks, and while tight schedules sometimes put our interviews or publicizing efforts at risk, we were fortunate to have overcome all issues. Transcribing Interviews: When we first began conducting interviews, we naively believed it to be an easy task of simply asking questions, getting answers, and writing them down. It was only after we realized that our instructor had provided us with recording devices did we discover the enormity of the situation. For purposes of accuracy as well as out of respect for our subjects, all interviews were audio and visually recorded, then transcribed word by word into written scripts. If interviewees answered in Taiwanese, we were obliged to translate it into Mandarin Chinese, and if we could find no corresponding words or phrases in our vocabulary, we had to consult the Taiwanese language instructor of our school. After the scripts were completed, copies were sent to the interviewees for proofing in order to ensure accuracy. Often, interviews with a duration of one to two hours take the same number of days to edit, thus we learned the hard way how difficult it is to produce written scripts.

5. Our Project Sound Bite

Interviews of Artists:'When the street parades had taken place, we thought that would be the end to the story, but much to our surprise and pleasure, the opportunity offered by the Cyberfair gave you another chance to further explore and enlarge your project. Learning how to make different types of lion headpieces, getting to know the intricate histories of traditional folklore and art forms are all excellent lessons for your kids to have learned.' Students experiences from participating in the Cyberfair Project:'My participation in the Cyberfair Project has enabled me to experience the sense of accomplishment that follows engaging in teamwork and completing a project in spite of obstacles and hardships. I realized what it felt like to reap the fruits of hard labor. The project took up much of my time, but now I am in possession of valuable and indelible memories.'

6. How did your activities and research for this CyberFair Project support standards, required coursework and curriculum standards?

In our Cyberfair project, we produced traditional lion head, Samba lion mask, promotional posters, picture books, and participated in street parades. By recording these art teaching activities, we hope that these activities could become a part of the school-based curriculum. We also conducted questionnaire survey to investigate the community residents’ understanding toward the development of traditional culture, and seek for possible direction of developing community features. Now, many countries around the world are promoting reuse of environmental resources for environmental protection. In support of this trend, we used recycled materials to produce the traditional lion head and Samba lion mask. Our research is conducive to the school and local communities for promoting traditional lion dance and Samba lion dance. We also hope to cooperate with school and communities to further promote lion dance, and make lion dance a local cultural feature of Xizhou Township.

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Project Elements

1) What information tools & technologies did you used to complete your CyberFair project?

Technical equipment: computer, digital camera, notebook, digital video recorder, Records the pen, Broadband network. computer software: Ulead PhotoImpact 6.0, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Web Mail, PowerDirector.

2) In what ways did you act as "ambassadors" and spokespersons for your CyberFair project both on-line and in person.

Ever since we formed a research team for lion dance, our teachers have always reminded us to take advantage of every chance at publicizing our efforts, to let others understand the objective of our research, to promote our ideas and the progress we have made. We should be the ambassadors of our projects, but may also ask others in helping to propagate the news. 1. Our first opportunity to introduce the project to our community members was at the Xizhou Township Lantern Festival evening gala on February 16th, 2011. 2. We explained to the parents attending the meeting what category we were participating in at the Cyberfair, our project theme, as well the progress we have made, the events we have attended, as well as a general introduction of all team members. 3. On Friday, March 11th, 2011, we introduced the Cyberfair to our fellow students and teachers at our morning assembly. 4. We presented copies of our video and eBooks to every teacher at our school as well as our headmaster, and asked them to act as our Cyberfair Ambassadors, to help promote our research objective: The Extravaganza of Classical and Samba Lion Dance.

3) What has been the impact of your project on your community?

1. The objective of this research project was for the team to manufacture ourselves both traditional lion headpieces and Samba lion headpieces, and to produce webpages and videos recording the process for publicity purposes, we have successfully aroused public interest, proving the effectiveness of our distribution efforts. 2. We would like to suggest that the school incorporate the manufacturing of traditional and Samba lion headpieces into regular arts and humanities or lifestyle courses, so that each and every student may have the opportunity to learn. We would also like to reach out to the Community Development Council, to suggest that they also include the making of traditional and Samba lion headpieces in community events. 3. All efforts made by our school and community towards promoting traditional and Samba lion dance will greatly contribute to the art form becoming a recognized local cultural trait. We hope that the school and the community may find ways to work together in promoting lion dance, so that lion dance may become the leading cultural feature of Xizhou Township.

4) How did your project involve other members of your community as helpers and volunteers?

1. We would like to express our gratitude to all interviewees:Director, Bao-hsin Cheng, Cheng Gong Elementary School; Xiban Branch Director, Jian-wen Chen; Coach, Ying-yuan Cheng; Master, An-chen Hsieh; Artist, Wan-ping Wu. 2. Instruction on the manufacture of traditional lion headpieces or Samba masks:Teacher Jia-ling Chen, Ms. Wan-ping Wu, Ms. Dalu, Mr. Taiyang.

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View our CyberFair Project (Project ID: 7087)

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