Beware the icy grasp of the Snow Queen and her ice sprites! For this year’s winter musical, Years 5 and 6 students at YCIS Shanghai Century Park Campus embarked on a six-week project to stage and perform a full-length musical, The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Andersen.

The Pudong Primary Co-Principals had long hoped to present a fully staged primary musical in Key Stage 2. This stems from a belief at YCIS that all children should have an opportunity to shine in school performances. Guided by this belief, all of the 140 students from Years 5 and Year 6 had a role in the production, whether it was singing, dancing, acting, or playing in the orchestra. The speaking and acting cast consisted of 40 roles, for which students spent countless hours memorising lines and developing their characters. The singers diligently practiced their songs and choreography, and they were accompanied by live music performed by the Junior Orchestra.

Another impressive student effort was expended towards the musical’s costume design. The costumes were conceived from sketches by an extremely creative Year 8 student Emily, who took on this personal project with guidance from art teacher Alina Ianovskaia.

After the last lines were spoken, the dancing had ceased, and the orchestra put down their instruments, the wonderful result of such hard work was a group of very happy primary students, confident and prepared to face more spotlights and audiences in the future.

Contributed by: Rebecca Wright, Music Teacher