Research Inception

During a morning assembly performance in 2013, students in Grade Four Class Zhi stood in the middle of the playground with clappers in their hands and gave the whole school a captivating performance. Gradually, shuochang performances started popping up in different venues at school. Sounds of hilarious cross talks, storytelling with clappers, and tongue twisters could be heard in different corners of school.

In 2014, our school lunchtime radio started broadcasting shuochang. Here is an excerpt from their first show:
Jackie: Hello everyone. I am Jackie.
Casper: I am Casper.
Jackie, Casper: It is time for the ‘Speaking, Imitating, Teasing, and Singing’ show.
Jackie: We got something new for the new semester. From now on, there will be a shuochang radio show hosted by your truly, Jackie,
Casper: and myself, Casper.
Jackie, Casper: We are here to bring shuochang to you…
It was from that moment onward, the seeds of shuochang were scatter all over Yu-Tsai.

Besides shuochang classes and lunchtime broadcasts, Ms. Li started to take our students out of school to perform and promote shuochang. In a performance at a senior center, every one laughed whole heartedly. In a performance at a Wenshan District community safety forum, the police officers laughed and rolled on the floor. When our sister school, Yangzhou Yu-Tsai, came for a visit, students from both schools went head to head for a cross talks battle.

Students who have learned shuochang started applying its techniques in language classes and competitions outside of school with good results to show for. Their level of articulation got better, and they seemed poised and confident when performing on stage. So it was a quick decision for us this year to choose the art of shuochang as our research topic. Let us grab our clappers and start ‘Clapping, Taking and Singing.’

Text: the Original Artsy Shuo-Chang Posse │ Pictures: the Original Artsy Shuo-Chang Posse