Program Description

TALES OF CHINA/LAND OF THE DRAGON introduces students to the culture and folklore of China through the eyes of a fascinated storyteller.  This is an ancient culture, rich in tradition and original tales that have been imitated, copied, adapted to many different cultures.The program has an introduction to China (one out of every six children in the world is Chinese)using three stories representing three different facets of Chinese culture: chosen from a dragon story with information about how dragons influenced imperial China; a tangram story;  a story about the animals in the Chinese zodiac and why the rat is the most important; a papercutting story; a story about crickets; a story about cats.   All three stories have visuals with props and costumes purchased in China.

   Artist Bio

Cathy Kaemmerlen, professional actress, dancer, and storyteller, is known for her variety of characters, one-woman shows, and for her rapport with audiences.  A performer and “creator of shows” since she can remember, she has toured in schools coast to coast, since receiving a BA in English/elementary education from UNC-Charlotte, and a MFA in dance performance/choreography/theatre at the University of Wisconsin.  She tours through Young Audiences of Atlanta, the Georgia and South Carolina Touring Arts Rosters, Fulton County SAP, and has received numerous grants and honors, including Outstanding New Interpreter for her region with the National Association of Interpreters. She is the author of three non-fiction books.

    Background on Art Form

Telling stories is an oral tradition, dating back to when mankind first developed a language or form of communication.  Storytelling is a universal way of passing down information to be saved and remembered for generations to come.  It is an interactive art form in which the storytellers’ passion for the story, material, and information, is passed on to the audience, who sorts through, interprets, stores, and synthesizes what is heard.

Prepare:

Teachers, please read this to your students.

Today we are going to have a program by actress storyteller Cathy Kaemmerlen who is going to tell us some stories that come from China, the land of the dragons.  Expect a dragon story and others that will take us on a pretend trip to this fascinating country where one out of every six children in the world comes from.

Warm Up Questions to set the stage for engaging students:

.Where is China?
.How many people live there?
.How do we see daily examples of Chinese influence and culture in our own country?
.Why do you think it's important to learn about China?
.When you think of China, what immediately comes to mind?
.Do you know any Chinese stories?
.Do any classmates come from China?

Vocabulary to look at before and after:

--tangrams:  ancient Chinese puzzles that begin with a square, cut into seven standard pieces called a tan, to create a picture in which all seven tans must be used, touching but not overlapping
--characters:  the drawings that make up the Chinese language, which does not have an alphabet
--cut-paper:  ancient Chinese art form of cutting out designs in paper by using scissors, knives, punches, and needles for lanterns, embroidery, landscapes
--Chinese zodiac: twelve animals that make up the months of the year and for which years are named in a twelve year cycle, also used for predictions and horoscopes.
--animals of the zodiac: rat, dragon, snake, ox, monkey, rooster, tiger, pig, dog, horse, goat, cat

Warm Up Questions for meeting the Georgia Performance Standards for "Listening/Speaking/Viewing":

.Describe the perfect audience.
.What are some of our class rules for being good listeners?
.How do we show someone we appreciate their visit to our school or classroom?
.How does being part of an audience help make you a good citizen?
.What are some examples of bad audience behavior or attitudes?
.How does a negative audience member effect your enjoyment of a show or performance?
.How would this make the performer feel?
.How do we want the performer to feel when they leave our school or classroom?

Reflect:

1.  Research the location and geography of China.  Why are more people in China than in any other country?  What has the Chinese government done to prevent overpopulation?  How is China divided?  How old is the country?
2. Discuss interesting customs of the Chinese and how they differ from ours, sometimes being opposite from what we are used to. Imagine what it would be like to be a young red pioneer and to live in a Communist country.
3.  Make papercuts, after the Chinese fashion.  Make tangram puzzles with directions to share with your classmates.  Make a class dragon with each student responsible for painting one portion. Decide whether or not to paint in the eyes.
4.  Have a Chinese food party.  Obtain empty Chinese take out containers and chopsticks for each child to fill with rice, noodles, to try to eat with the chopsticks.
5.  Celebrate Chinese New Years and make you own parades with dragon dancers, etc. Discuss what the year is...the year of the tiger, etc.

Resources:

Gibbons, Gail.  BEHOLD...THE DRAGONS.
Hague, Michael.  THE BOOK OF DRAGONS.
Zhang, Songnan and Haoyu.  A TIME OF GOLDEN DRAGONS.
Whipple, Laura.  DRAGONS DRAGONS and OTHER CREATURES THAT NEVER WERE.
Stephanchuk, Carol.  RED EGGS AND DRAGON BOATS:  CELEBRATING CHINESE FESTIVALS.
Young, Ed.  CAT AND RAT:  THE LEGEND OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC.
Bouchard, David and Zhong-yang Huang. THE DRAGON NEW YEAR:  A CHINESE LEGEND.
Demi.  THE DRAGON’S TALE and OTHER ANIMAL FABLES OF THE CHINESE ZODIAC.
Lau, Theodora. THE HANDBOOK OF CHINESE HOROSCOPES.
Man, Elizabeth and Alan Witschonke.  THE GREAT WALL.
Fang, Linda and Jeanne Lee.THE CH’I-LIN PURSE.
Tomper, Ann and Robert Andrew Parker.  GRANDFATHER TANG’S STORY: A TALE TOLD WITH TANGRAMS.
Leaf, Margaret and Ed Young.  EYES OF THE DRAGON
Bateson-Hill, Margaret.  LAO LAO OF DRAGON MOUNTAIN.
Grafton, Carol Belanger.AUTHENTIC CHINESE CUT-PAPER DESIGNS
Davol, Marguerite and Robert Sabuda.  THE PAPER DRAGON