Crystal's Adventures through Performing Arts

Goodbye Hellos Hello Goodbyes spontaneity suspense surprises now, the satisfaction of normalcy typicalities and a clock that ticks to the rhythmic beats of tocks––that's what I desire i want to hug goodbye, knowing that hello will only be a sunrise away i want to lock the door, expecting to unlock it again i want to breathlessly arrive at our third floor hallway after complaining about stairs and stairs and more stairs i want to simply be there next Monday... just be there for high school i walked without walking away from friends, family, school off the stage with a flimsy diploma to combat future battles i talked without talking six years of school ago six minutes and 981 words later that night I spun around and left as if no weight was carried and no tears stained with a smile in my eyes and sadness by my lips i filled emptiness with hollow laughter that reverberated through the endless––

Exactly 5 years, 9 months, and 5 days ago, I missed the bus, got stuck in traffic for an hour, lost my way on campus, and arrived, as a new student, in my 7th grade homeroom very very late. As a “welcoming gift”, Mr. Morrison made me the vice cleanup monitor. I mean I didn’t even know what a cleanup monitor was. The name itself sounded terrifying. Little did I know this terrifying beginning transformed into six gratifying years and an unforgettable journey.  Good Evening teachers, students, family, and my beloved class of 2018. I, Crystal Chen, am humbled to be able to stand up here today to speak on behalf of the graduating class of 2018. I appreciate your guidance along the way. I greatly admire each and every one of you for their modesty, kindness, patience, intelligence, and encouragements. As a senior now, I hope to leave IBSH slightly less confused and slightly more intelligent than I was five years ago. Today, I am neither here to give you some life-changing advice ...

Here's our Anniversary Performance!! :D We tried to do a blue outfit theme this time. Enjoy! Can't believe this was our second to last performance. The two songs that we danced to, Disturbia and Turn Down for What, were both one of the first songs I danced to when I joined D.Co. It seemed like yesterday that I was struggling to perfect the moves in our old music rooms, looking up to our hired dance teacher, hoping to one day dance with as much flair as her. Today, after four years, we still feel like children, but now it's our turn to teach and lead. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl-iHhGebZI&list=PLYhYDtgCrD3zalo9yjvdqb0GqRgk2fs-V&index=3

This quarter we tried to do a modern interpretation of Chinese Painting, and here's the painting I did for my end of year project :D My initial idea was to create a full length rectangle and add puzzle pieces to resemble a shattered full-length mirror. I was also going to paste a plastic figure in the centre to signify an individual questioning her identity. Each puzzle piece was created with a different material/method/medium (ex: candle wax, cabbage core, string). For me, it meant that an individual cannot be defined with a single element, and each medium is representative of a person's emotions, personality, and the ups and downs of life. PS: this is a full length art piece. Accidents along the way... XD 1) While I was creating my art piece with a candle, dripping wax onto my paper, the paper was set ablaze because I accidentally touched it with the fire. We ran to the sink and the whole thing lit up in flames. Luckily, with a few rags, we were able to extinguish it. Ou...

Been working on a few Chinese Paintings :)  Expressing my imagination through art while exploring my inner world. Note: the English and Mandarin Names don't necessarily match up 錯綜交雜 (Intertwined) 齊心向上 (Together) 我的第一幅水墨畫 (My First Chinese Painting) 生意盎然 (Flourish) Painting of the tree outside our classroom: Sketch of the tree from above: 童趣 (Childhood) Modern interpretation of Chinese Painting: using Chinese painting to illustrate dolls and stuffed animals.

I painted these two pieces for my mom as her birthday card, and then I taught her some Chinese painting techniques <3 :) (I cut out the written part of the card, so that's why there's an awkward-looking bamboo shoot/branch next to the rock) I'm a leftie, BUT I compose Chinese calligraphy with my right hand. Why? Because Chinese character strokes go from left to right, so the brush would crumple up if I use my left hand. Story time:  I once enrolled in a Chinese calligraphy class, and the teacher told me to either switch to my right hand or switch to another course... Thus, I switched to my right hand and attempted to trace Chinese characters like the other students. Weeks passed by and everyone progressed from tracing simple characters to outlining complicated ones: the teacher even signed his name on their practice pieces to show their perfection of the characters (our teacher claimed he was famous and that his signatures were valuable) Yet, I conti...

Now that club fair is over, I want to take a moment to thank my dance family <3 The most exciting part of every performance is the training. Yes, it is tiring, but we are always so spirited. Like a large family, we share our successes and failures and happiness and sadness. It's truly touching to see some of the younger members become better dancers and more open people in general under our guidance. Even those who shied away from us in the beginning would engage in our dance discussions and backstage banters (do you like my alliteration there?) Truth be told, the onstage performances may be ephemeral ( 3~4 minutes) but what lasts forever is our friendship. Sometimes we'd have a pizza party or two to celebrate our successes BEFORE the real performance to acknowledge the time and effort we put into perfecting the choreography. What we acknowledge is not our result, but the blood sweat tears AND LAUGHTER put into a dance. I remember once we all sat in a circle and shared our...