Aspire 2010 Charity Dance Competition

Aspire 2010 is a charity dance competition that took place on Friday, 26th November, 2010. It was organized by a group of students from German Swiss International School (under the school club Art Cubed) as a school charity project to work with students from different schools in Hong Kong, and to raise funds for .
It was held at the Ingrid-Bucholtz Halle in German Swiss International School and involved more than 300 students from 9 schools, namely German Swiss International School, King George V School, Chinese International School, Hong Kong International School, West Island School, Island School, South Island School, Renaissance College, Hong Kong, and Diocesan Boys' School.
Most information was distributed via http://www.facebook.com/Art.Cubed and http://www.facebook.com/Aspire.2010.
Preparation
Preparatory work started in mid-October (one month before the competition).
Students were split into different groups to help prepare for the event, while teachers took on a supervising role.
Sponsors
Although much effort was put into trying to have sponsors for the event, it was in the end unsuccessful and there were no sponsors for this event.
Venue
Since the school had a tradition of holding events at the Ingrid-Bucholtz Halle (IB Hall), the students wanted to look for a different venue to provide some variation in the tradition of events. However, the organizing committee decided that holding the event at a different venue would restrict students' creativity, and the event would not be as student-based or composed of the students' efforts either. Therefore, the competition was decided to be held at the IB Hall.
Date
There were many problems with securing a date for the competition, because the school had different events taking place in the IB Hall on the recurring Fridays of November to December. Originally, Aspire was supposed to be held on the 10th of December, 2010, but the event clashed with the school's Christmas Concert, so the competition had to be moved earlier. After much discussion, the date of the competition was finalized in early November to be the 26th of November, 2010.
Teams
Since Aspire was the first Charity Dance Competition that involved mixed dance styles in Hong Kong, many students were still weary of what the competition would be like. Many invitations were sent via the organizing committee's head and a lot of information was distributed via http://www.facebook.com/Art.Cubed. In the end, there were a total of 10 teams consisting of students from mixed international and local schools.
Decorations
Even though there was not much funding for the event, decorations were still affordable through the support of students' parents and past fund-raising events.
The theme color for Aspire was electric blue. One of the most interesting decorations were the 200 helium ballons that lined the chairs of the hall. Aspire was split into two parts; in the first part the balloons were all blue, but during the intermission, the balloons were replaced with red ones, which overwhelmed the audience. The organizing committee and contestants held the blue ballons when entering the hall in the second part.
In addition, the background of the stage was also designed and created by students. The background was painted black with rainbow stripes across the middle. The letters A-S-P-I-R-E and numbers 2010 were cut out from cardboard and covered with blue and silver glittered, which shimmered under the bright spotlight. To further emphasize the blue theme and to create a neon and hyped up mood, blue glow-sticks were also distributed to the audience.
Catering
Free food was provided by the organizing committee to the audience. There were drinks, samosas, sandwiches, and chicken wings, which were ordered from a local catering company.
Filming
The whole event was filmed by the GSIS Film Crew, a student-run club as well. DVDs of the competition are currently still in production.
Changing Rooms
Most of the normal classrooms in the Middle Building were used as changing rooms for the evening of the competition. Tables were moved to the side and every team had their own changing room where food and drinks were provided.
Beneficiary
Aspire raised a total of $12,000 (HKD) for (SJS). Originally Aspire was supposed to benefit CADENZA, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, but it was later decided that the funds should be raised for SJS because it was more appropriate to the aim of Art Cubed (to serve the elderly of Hong Kong). The total fund was utilized in SJS's Healthbank Programme, where funds were used to buy medicine and foods for the elderly.
Judging Panel
The judging panel consisted of three experienced dancers; Ms Mandy Petty, Mr Billy Chan, and Ms Jamie Chung.
Ms Mandy Petty
Petty was the head judge of Aspire and was invited by a personal invitation from the head of the organizing committee. She was the head of Musical Theatre at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, as well as the coordinator of the Gifted Young Dancers' Programme.
Mr Billy Chan and Ms Jamie Chung
Mr Billy Chan represented Billy Chan Dance Concept (BCDC) and Ms Jamie Chung represented JC Dance Steps. Initially Yiu from Infinity Dance Studio was supposed to come, but had other commitments, so Ms Jamie Chung assumed his role as judge of Aspire.
Judging Criteria
Contestants were judged based on the following criteria:
* Creativity
* Technical Difficulty
* Meaning
* Poise
* Facial Expression
* Stage Presence
* Choice of Music
* Sync
* Rhythm and Timing
* Costume Design
Each criterion was marked out of 10, adding up to a total of 100 marks. The highest team received 83 marks and the lowest 36.
The Competition
Aspire was supposed to start at 6:30pm, but because there was a traffic accident nearby, many of the guests could not attend and the competition was postponed for 30 minutes (until 7:00pm) to provide grace time for late comers.
The competition was split into 2 main parts; the first was the competition itself, and consisted of dancing and singing acts; the second was the announcement of results, including thank you speeches from teachers and the head organizer. The intermission in between the two parts started at 8:30pm and ended at 9:00pm and the whole event commenced at around 10:00pm.
Winners
1st place: West Island School
2nd place: King George V School
3rd place: Verve Crew (mixed schools)
Organizing Committee
Head Organizer: Brian Chan
Head of Stage Design: Jacqueline Lung
Head of Performances: Adrianna Leanne Wong
Head of Photography: Jasmine Tso
Head of Backstage: Vicki Tsang
Head of Finance: Anthea Chow & Cherie Poon
Head of Publicity: Natalie Coco Chan
Head of Staging: Colinette Wang
Head of Rooms: Denise Teo
Head of Reception: Erica Leung
Head of MCs: Jennifer Tsui
Head of Voting: Julia Zschiesche
Head of Judges: Kallista Chan
Inspire 2011
There are currently plans to organize another charity dance competition called Inspire 2011. This has deviated from the quote "Aspire to Inspire before you Expire". In addition, Inspire will be organized by Art Cubed members when they are in Year 12, and Expire when they are in Year 13 (graduating year), making it a very meaningful annual event for the class of 2013.

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