Shows: Musical Theatre Workshop

Musicals have always been a part of our lives and families. We grew up on a steady diet of The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins and such, and soundtracks are part of our car's CD list.

Five years ago, Girl #1 took part in the Fusion musical theatre workshop and loved it. They did songs from Annie and Mamma Mia. The next year, it was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

After a few years hiatus, we signed her and Boy #1 up for another workshop, this time by The Jumping JellyBeans theatre company (bascially the same people behind Fusion). Musicals to be covered included Cats, Hairspray and Frozen.

The week-long holiday programme was held at the Pusat Kreatif Kanak-Kanak Tuanku Bainun in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. I have probably passed it many times but never knew what lay inside. It's a really picturesque place, with many studios and auditorium, to encourage children in the arts.

The Courtyard at the Creative Centre

The children learned how to sing and dance under the tutelage of facilitators from Malaysia and the UK (some of whom performed in the Broadway edition of these musicals). So they were taught actual choreography and inside tips and tricks by the pros! This was definitely an integral part of the experience. It was grueling training, though and the kiddos were often exhausted by the end of each day.

Learning the moves and positions

The last day of the workshop was performance day!

Sorry for the poor photo quality ... my handphone doesn't perform well under low light. Thankfully, the children performed excellently.

Gumbie Cat

Scenes from Hairspray

In Summer — probably one of the cutest number of the afternoon

The cast ... a job well done!

There was limited seating, so each family had limited number of tickets for the show. Thankfully, the entire performance can be viewed here. Enjoy!

Dance: A Miraculous Favour

Girl has been learning ballet since she was 3+. She was the youngest in her class as she wanted to join her friends, who were a year older.

Although she enjoyed music and dance, she was not particularly graceful. In fact, because she had a tendency to turn in her toes, she'd often end up tripping over herself while walking, running or dancing.

As her classmates transformed into little swans, my little duckling still waddled around. Still cute, but clumsy.

Her Grade 2 progress report had encouraging remarks by the teacher, but her footwork and technique were obviously wanting.

Mommy, personally, was taken out of ballet class after scoring a measly "pass plus" in her first exam. But I loved dancing, and I knew my Girl did too.

So I got a copy of the music and scoured Youtube videos of Grade 2 steps. Every day before (and sometimes after) school, Girl would have to practice and practice and practice. It wasn't easy. There were tears. But she improved noticeably and passed her exam with a Merit.

Fast forward to 2012. We changed school to one closer to home — less rush and ferrying up and down for Mommy. The new classroom didn't have a big glass window. So Mommy couldn't monitor what happened in class. Ignorance was bliss.

Her teacher did comment that she had to practice. We did run through some routines with music found online. And she went for a couple of personal classes during the holidays. But overall, things were less strenuous than the year before.

Mommy was resigned. If she didn't do well in her Grade 3 exam, without extraordinary measures as before, it was a sign that it was time to hang up those ballet shoes. And honestly, a part of me expected her to fail or just barely pass, especially since I was unimpressed with what I saw during her last-minute practice right before the exam.

But somehow, Someone up there must have really favoured her.

We got her results today. And thanks be to God, beyond our wildest expectations, she was one of three girls in her class to score a Distinction!

My lil' duckling was becoming a swan!