Spooky spiders and flower drumming: Zi Lan Liao takes us through a week of half-term activities with the Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra in Liverpool. Zi Lan Liao, Artistic Director of Pagoda ArtsSwipe / click to begin SundayThe children come in between 12pm and 4pm today, as they go to different Chinese schools to learn Cantonese or Mandarin in the mornings. They all practise in groups and the older members help the new members. This peer-to-peer system was passed down from our previous Music Director, Mr. Li. He always said somehow the children learn quicker from their peers. TuesdayToday is a busy day as we are preparing to give a small performance for the opening ceremony of the Bombed Out Church on Thursday. It is going to take place outdoors and the children need to lead the way, so I decided to teach them the flower drumming. We also had a visit from National Museums Liverpool in the afternoon, who gave us a presentation about an upcoming exhibition. WednesdayAnother day of practising with the children. They need to learn how to dance and walk while holding the drums and cymbals. After lunch, we did a walk through with the drums and lions, and then the children spent the rest of the afternoon blowing up balloons and putting sweets and spiders inside – ready for our Halloween party on Thursday. ThursdayThe children arrived early today, ready to take part in the opening ceremony of the Bombed Out Church. We were blessed with the weather, as it had been raining the past few days. In the afternoon, they had a great time bursting balloons, listening to ghost stories and playing racing games. They were happier about winning the spiders, scorpions and skeletons than the sweets! SaturdayToday, we returned to our normal weekly rehearsals. The children played from 10am until 3pm with a one-hour lunch break. We had about ten new members from the summer play scheme. They are now all able to follow the beats and play two to three songs with the older members. Zi Lan Liao is Director of Pagoda Arts. pagodaarts.org.uk Tw @PagodaArts Arts PeopleMusicChildren and young peopleLink to Author(s): Zi Lan Liao Published: 27-11-2017 Log in or register to post comments