New Oriental's "Golden Autumn Dance Festival" small host competition came to a successful conclusion

New Oriental's "Golden Autumn Dance Festival" small host competition came to a successful conclusion Tracy Tang, Yang Hanwen (Ha…

Tracy Tang and Hanven Yang won

(Contributed by the Cultural Center of New Oriental Art School) On the evenings of August 15th and 16th, New Oriental Art School held the semi-finals and finals of the September "Mid-Autumn Dance Festival" host selection competition. Tracy Tang and Hanven Yang stood out after the semi-finals and finals and became the two young hosts of the "Dance Festival". They will co-host the "Mid-Autumn Dance Festival" party under the leadership of Ms. Lin Xin, a senior host in Alberta. The judges for this mini-host final are well-known scholars and overseas Chinese leaders in the community. They are: Dr. Pan Shou'an, president of Mesa Community College, Dr. Wang Weizi, chairman of UCAA, and Dr. Fazia Mai Tong, a well-known education expert. The competition was divided into two games. On the evening of Friday, August 15, fourteen players participated in the semi-finals. They entered the semi-finals after two months of training and competition in the summer. After the rematch, six more contestants were selected and entered the finals on the next day, Saturday night, August 16.

Both competitions are divided into two parts: poetry recitation and impromptu speech on a designated theme. In the rematch, the principal assigned the famous poet Shelley's poem "To the Moon" and asked the children to recite it in English and explain it in Chinese. This part was told to the fourteen contestants in advance. The theme of the impromptu speech is 'Arizona', and each contestant only has ten minutes to prepare. In this session, six players qualified. The three judges participated in the voting together with the parents, audience and contestants at the scene. There are three judges, in addition to the principal, there are also two volunteer judges. They are Charlotte Wang, an outstanding Chinese teacher in Arizona, and Catherine Jiang, a well-known lawyer. Lawyer Jiang announced the results of the semi-finals on behalf of the three judges and made detailed comments on all the contestants.

The final content is also divided into two parts. In the first round, the children were asked to choose a Chinese poem to recite and explain it in English. In the second round, the children were asked to speak an opening speech for the "Dance Festival" in English. In this session, the performance of Tracy Tang and Hanven Yang was unanimously recognized by the on-site judges and host Ms. Lin Xin. It is worth mentioning that they both chose "Shui Tiao Ge Tou - When Will the Bright Moon" by Su Shi of the Song Dynasty to recite and explain. The judges believed that in the two rounds of competition, Tang Tianhe's performance was stable and calm, his image was fresh, his smile was friendly, and he was able to maintain good communication and interaction with the audience. Yang Hanwen impressed the judges and the audience with his relaxed and humorous language style and witty and flexible live performance.

Dr. Pan Shou'an, the president of Mesa Community College, enthusiastically encouraged all the contestants in his final concluding remarks and commented on the advantages and disadvantages of each contestant one by one. He said that every child present today performed very well and had his own characteristics. Regardless of whether he was selected as a host this time, he deserves encouragement and recognition for being able to come to this competition today. Dr. Wang Weizi, chairman of Hualian, also said that every child's performance was very good and the judges had a hard time making a choice. He hopes that children can learn knowledge and increase their abilities from the competition.

The young presenters participating in this competition are all from the New Oriental Summer Speech Club. The Toastmasters Club was organized and hosted by our principal on a voluntary basis. She put a lot of effort and energy into this event. Principal Tong said that over the past two months, she has personally watched these children make little progress. As a teacher, she is sincerely gratified by the children's efforts and progress.

"Golden Autumn Dance Festival" will be held at Chandler Center for the Arts at 4:00 pm on September 14th. Let us wait and see how the two young hosts perform.

The judges took a group photo with the finalists. Front row from left: Dr. Pan Shou'an (President of Mesa Community College), President Tong (Dr. Fazia Mai Tong, a well-known education expert), Ms. Lin Xin (well-known host), Dr. Wang Weizi (Chairman of UCAA); Hanven Yang (selected as junior host, second from left in the back row), Tracy Tang (selected as junior host, first from right in the back row)