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| First edition of "Belfort's Got Talent," presented by l'Ecole Primaire Victor Hugo. |
curtain lights,
this is it,
the night of nights...
Last week my students at l'Ecole Victor Hugo put on a grand spectacle (in English) called "Belfort's Got Talent," performing comical talent sketches to do with the theme of "Singing in the Rain."
It was a cyclone of boots and umbrellas, wigs and gossamer, glitter and paint, false mustaches, sashes, rubber, boas and bling.
Types of sketches included:
Three pixies singing an a capella "Umbrella," featuring pushy (quite literally)
hip-hop artist Bad Boy Diego...
Models stumbling around in couture rainboots while the fashion designer, dressed like a Clockwork Orange droog, parades about the audience receiving praise and kisses...
A rap group spitting "Singin' in the Rain,"
A tragic make-up artist whose work is reminiscent of Picasso...
A violent tennis match between John McEnroe and a rookie player with an afro...
and a choreographed performance of "Singing in the Rain" sung by the Victor Hugo choir.
The acts were received by three caricatured judges, one of whom could never be anything but disgusted by the supposed "talent" before him, and an audience of laughing French children and parents.
What is most impressive is the way these kids delivered their lines in English, spot-on. It showed me first-hand the value of learning a foreign language at a young age, age 10 or younger, while the mouth, vocal chords, and brain are still quite malleable... before we get bolted into adolescence and adulthood. These students in particular have a much easier time pronouncing and remembering foreign words than my older teenage students, or myself for that matter.
So, a tip to parents and my future self: teach your children well, i.e. while they're young!
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| The panel of judges: Ylena, Paul and Lina, and hostess Juliette. |
