Story Behind the Scenes- "The Dragon Days"

On 28 March, before spring break, our Junior School students presented "The Dragon Days" on stage with great success. But do you know who the driving force was behind the scenes? In fact, many teachers and staff were involved in making the show happen. However, we would like to highlight our Junior School Music teacher, Ms Merrill WOODRUFF, who led the show and arranged all the details. Let's see the story behind the scenes!

Hi Ms Woodruff. Firstly, could you please introduce yourself?

I have been teaching music for over 4 years. I am from America and I graduated with a BA in Music Education with a concentration in voice and choir from Temple University. Before joining Dulwich College Suzhou, I taught at the School of the Nations Macau, an international school in Macau SAR.

At School of the Nations, I taught kindergarten through primary grade six general music and choir, lead an after-school ukulele club, music-directed the primary production and coached primary girls’ soccer.  I love my job because I get to spend my time with amazing student musicians who impress me every day with their creativity, confidence, resilience, and talent.

Why did we choose the Dragon Days for this performance?

This year we had 48 students involved in our production. With such a large group it was important to me that we choose a show that had enough parts for each student to be involved and know that they were an important part of our production. Dragon Days fit just what I was looking for. In the story, the villagers of Stumbledorf live in fear of an evil dragon but come to find that the dragon isn’t evil at all, just a bit lonely and misunderstood. This moral of “don’t judge a book by its cover” is highly relatable and students could make direct connections to their own lives and experiences.

The music included in the show provided opportunities to reinforce techniques and concepts that students were learning in the JS Music curriculum and pushed them to develop their singing voices and performance skills. All of the students involved worked extremely hard and practiced their music during break times, in weekly CCA meetings, and at home.

What are the challenges this time when you led the children to do this drama show? What did students learn from that?

Since the show includes students from Year 3 to Year 6, they all have different experiences and comfort levels on stage. Production provides a good opportunity for them to work together. There were many moments where students were teaching other students, sharing ideas, and encouraging each other to shine on stage. Students made connections with their peers across Junior School and new friendships been formed.

Drama also provides an opportunity for students to develop their English listening and speaking skills. We saw tremendous improvements in many students’ delivery of their lines from when we first began rehearsals to the final performance.

Was there any story that you want to share with us during the practice and rehearsal time?

We had lots of fun learning the dances. Initially, many students did not want to dance and rehearsals were filled with lots of giggles. After a few brave students jumped in and gave it a go, we overcame the silliness and were able to push ourselves to learn the Alpine dances who were expertly choreographed by my amazing partner Mr Aaron Hope. Also, in the very first rehearsal a student shared that he did not want a part, he wanted to play a tree. Luckily, he did not play a tree, but instead grew into a confident and hilarious ninja.

Anyone else you would like to say thank you in particular?

I want to express my gratitude to all the students and their parents. Thank you for your involvement and support. Also, a big thanks to Ms Connie Turner who created the stage sets, Ms Michelle Roux who designed and crafted the costumes, and to Charles Li who ran sound and lighting for the show. And finally, thank you to Ms Odette Holweg, Ms Charlotte Penny, and Ms JoJo You who assisted with rehearsals and the final performances.

I am looking forward to another great show next year!