This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Maanasa Sri Ganesh (16S06Q), Chairperson, and Huang Jiawen (16S06G), Vice-Chairperson

Raffles Indian Dance, or RI Idance for short, is a performing arts CCA dedicated to promoting Indian Dance and inculcating in our members a love for dance. We aim to provide a platform for all members to grow as dancers and freely express themselves through dance. For years, RI Idancers have been a closely-knit bunch, and we hold our members’ interests close to our hearts. Even as we seek perfectionism and take on ever more difficult dance routines, we leave no one behind, and newer members are often patiently guided through the choreography by their amiable seniors.

“In the beginning of the year, I was quite worried about my performance during CCA sessions as I had no prior experience in Indian Dance, but my seniors’ encouragement and guidance really helped me to become more confident and passionate about dance.”

– Huang Jiawen

Many may think that Indian Dance CCAs only dabble in traditional Indian Dance items. This, however, cannot be further from the truth. We love to explore different genres and styles of the fascinating art form. We are given room to experiment with genres ranging from the timeless and classical bharathanatyam (traditional Indian Dance) to the fiery and sassy Bollywood. You will definitely be able to pick up some signature Bollywood moves and improve your knowledge of exotic Indian folk music and popular Bollywood songs from CCA sessions!

Indian Dance meets twice a week on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. However, nearing performances, practices may be longer and increase to three times a week. Throughout the year, we will have numerous opportunities to perform in events including but not limited to the biennale Singapore Youth Festival (SYF), Sangamam (the annual concert by Indian Cultural Society) and major school events such as National Day Celebrations. Last year, Indian Dance managed to attain a Distinction award in SYF 2015. Our CCA sessions include drills in basic Indian Dance techniques, physical training as well as the learning and practicing of dance choreography. Members will also have the opportunity to choreograph items for non-SYF performances, and this enables us to gain deeper insights into the various dance styles.

We firmly believe that dance is a collaborative effort that unifies individuals of diverse personalities and backgrounds. As a dance item comes to completion, meaningful bonds are forged along the way, and time and time again we witness the growth of our members as dancers and individuals. For our dancers who are not trained in Indian Dance, learning a new dance form had certainly not been an easy feat. Nonetheless, they can always turn to their CCA mates for support and encouragement, and everyone can learn from each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, it is not essential to have prior experience in Indian Dance or dance background to join our CCA! What’s most important is a willingness to learn and a strong interest in dance.

If you love dancing and are eager to try out a new and exotic dance form, then give Indian Dance a try! We look forward to welcoming you to the Raffles Indian Dance family :)

This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By John Chew Geronimo Jr (16A01E), Chairperson; Konstanze Tan Wan Yu (16S03A), Vice-chairperson; Kok Feng Rui, Danson (16S05A), Quartermaster; Jin Minjia (16S06K), Secretary

“Jazz is smooth and cool. Jazz is rage. Jazz flows like water. Jazz never seems to begin or end. Jazz isn’t methodical, but Jazz isn’t messy either. Jazz is a conversation, a give and take. Jazz is the connection and communication between musicians. Jazz is abandon.”- Nat Wolff

As suggested by the quote, Jazz is a social and communicative art form. The average day in the life of a Jazzer is thus a day of conversation, be it through verbal or musical means, within the vibrant yet cosy family that is Raffles Jazz.

The Jazzers are a close-knit community of musicians, passionate about their craft, and even more passionate about constantly honing their music through jam sessions. Jazz requires a balance between individuality and togetherness, as the music not only needs to be played cohesively as a band, but should also possess a personal stylistic contribution through improvisation. To help strike such a balance, our time in Jazz involves constant self-evaluation and improvement, which can take the form of various jazz recordings as a CCA or even personal “woodshedding”. We also have help from external instructors, all of whom are established musicians in the local jazz scene. Each instructor of the respective sections (vocalists, soloists, bassists, guitarists, drummers, keyboardists) offers a host of experience in playing various styles and forms of music and valuable insights into playing in the world of the professional musician. Paired with the encouragement and sharing of knowledge by fellow Jazzers, this conducive environment definitely helps everyone in the CCA to grow and become vastly better musicians than ever before.

Far from being “whiplashesque”, Raffles Jazz has always been an environment that encourages collective excellence, not merely personal success. This means we make a conscious effort to elevate every single member of the CCA, despite their respective experience and skill levels. We make sure that everyone has a comfortable personal command of their instrument and basic understanding of their role in the band. Chemistry amongst band members is key in Jazz, and upon honing our personal skills on our instruments, we focus on the ability to listen to each other and create together on the fly. As such, the focus of band practice sessions also encompasses interpersonal elements which allow for a deeper level of communication to occur. Such band practice sessions are usually held on Wednesdays from 2.30pm-4.30pm in the Jamming Studios, during which we jam not only classic jazz standards, but also sloppy funk grooves and tear-jerking blues tunes. However, the frequency of these sessions increases in the lead-up to gigs that Jazz takes up, in addition to the annual concert that usually happens around April/May.

The annual concert is the moment we are given the opportunity to present what we have been working on to the school population. Raffles Jazz has also been engaged in various gigs including The Humanities Initiative (THI), which saw us busking along the busy Orchard Road shopping belt, as well as school functions including the National Day concert, when members swung some national day favourites. We were also invited to perform at the Music Salon for members of the public who enjoyed listening to jazz. In 2015, Jazz also had the privilege of collaborating with the Photography Club to provide ambience and an enriched audio-dimension to the visual treats during the exhibition.

As a sagely senior once said: “Learning jazz is like learning a new language”- indeed, in all its audible beauty, Jazz has its own subtle, intangible nuances that can be challenging to pick up. If you still aren’t sure if you’re prepared for the experience or if Jazz is really going to be your cup of tea, fret not: a pre-audition workshop will be held prior to CCA auditions during the week of 18th-22nd Jan as a taster for the genre of Jazz, featuring a speaker’s session and a live demonstration of the audition songs. Prospective members of Raffles Jazz will then have to undergo an audition and an interview. Sounds intimidating? Perhaps so, but the love of music prevails. Passion is imperative, simply because passion produces the perseverance that transforms bizarre chords into interesting ones and freakish rhythms into endlessly fun ones.

In the words of the great jazz bassist Charles Haden: “As long as there are musicians who have a passion for spontaneity, for creating something that’s never been before, the art form of jazz will flourish.” See you in the Jamming Studios!

This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Ming Zee (16A01A), Chairperson, and Adriel (16S06K), Vice-Chairperson

Bedroom guitarist? Breakout singer? Baroque keyboardist? Fret not, because Raffles Rock is here! Take to the stage and express your creativity and enthusiasm – in jamming, gigging, and just plain rockin’ out. Our hugest event – ROCKOUT – is an annual concert @Scape, with three solid hours of sound, setlists and strobelights dedicated to our bands. Aside from that, you’ll be given the choice of a wide array of gigs – both internal (Open House, National Day Parade, Charity Events) and external (Hood Café & Bar, Hard Rock Café, NJC Rock Night), self-sourced and externally invited.

But it isn’t all glitz and glamour. So what’s it like behind the scenes, in our quaint, homely and – most importantly – soundproof studio?

A regular day starts at 4.30pm, with members milling into the studio and flopping onto beanbags; it’s our respite from the daily grind of schoolwork. Guitars screech, mics fuzz, people trip over wires…until we cobble something together and start jamming. But what songs do we jam? For the start of the year, we’ll focus on prepping for Rockout. Past that, every batch chooses their own direction – so you could write songs, record covers, improvise, or go gigging! Everyone will have different musical preferences – from death metal to cantopop – so you’ll definitely learn more about the genres your bandmates like.

Halfway through a song our eccentric external instructor will pop by, most likely in a Superhero tee and badly matching pants. Founder of Thunder Rock School, trained as a vocalist but with many other talents, Ian helps us get our songs together for upcoming performances. You’ll decide on what songs to play, but he’ll give you tips on band cohesion, instrumentation, tightness and stage presence. Occasionally, a J3 (fresh into NS) or a J5 (fresh out of NS) senior will pop by – which just goes to show how strong the Rock family bonds are.

Our official CCA day is Tuesday, informal day Thursday – but during peak periods before performances, we practice up to 4 times a week! Other than that, life in Rock is relaxed. Sometimes, we just sit down and jam random stuff when we don’t have upcoming performances – a great time to bond. In Rock, you’ll have to work closely with your bandmates in order to put up a great show. Everyone plays a key role in our songs – and since Rock is a small CCA (10-12 members per batch), you’ll definitely get to know one another well! CCA formally ends at 1900, but we tend to overshoot both our studio time, and the time we spend with each other. We have numerous batch dinners, watch concerts, occasional sleepovers, banter, go to the gym and visit guitar shops together…the list goes on! Even Ian is a chill guy to have a good laugh with.

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But how do you get into Rock? Just sign up for our auditions – where you’ll play whatever you like for Ian, Mrs Teo (our Teacher IC) and a couple of Rock members. You can play your instrument by itself, jam along to backing tracks, or audition as a band. We’ll ask you some questions to get to know you better – don’t worry, there are no wrong answers; you don’t even have to play a rock song during your audition! In general, we take in 2 vocalists, 2-4 guitarists, 2 drummers, 2 keyboardists and 2 bassists.

A great opportunity to get to know what Rock is like is to take part in Music Feste, which you’ll learn about when term starts. You’ll be playing in a band with your fellow house mates, and you might get to know your J2 rock seniors, as well as fellow batchmates in Rock!

There are countless differences between playing to a backing track at home and performing live. So if you’re someone who’d like to put up a good show, see the audience go mad, and have crazy fun – then Rock is for you! But even if you aren’t, just come anyways – we guarantee you’ll have a blast of a time.

Please contact rock.raffles@gmail.com if you have any inquiries. Also, do check out our Twitter (@rafflesrock), Instagram (rafflesrock), and Youtube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/RafflesRock14).

This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Celine Ng (16A01A) and Cai Hai Yun (16S03B), Co-chairpersons

Three very quick things to know about Raffles Players.

Firstly, CCA is at the Black Box.

Officially known as the TSR or Theatre Studies Room, this place is more often called the TSD, or most often, ‘that shady room opposite popular’. We’re very glad to call it home.

A clean, open space with astoundingly brilliant lights, this is where most CCA sessions are held. Here, we meet up for workshops (typically designed and run by seniors), rehearsals and batch meetings.

Secondly, CCA is flexible.

There are always plenty of opportunities for members to try their hands at something different. These include event planning, directing, acting, production and stage managing, creating impressive sets, controlling lights and sounds, doing makeup and costumes, being active in the publicity committee and much more.

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Opportunities to perform at external venues are also available. Last year, members put up a week-long performance at the Esplanade as part of its Peer Pleasure festival. While some were involved in acting, others had professional guidance at backstage work and gained tremendous insight into the technicalities of running a show. Outside of that, we also put up a triple bill at this year’s Literature Night, another exciting opportunity in which our members got to write, direct and act in original pieces of their own.

The important thing is to be passionate, adventurous and willing to learn. Many of our members do come in with special skills, but everyone picks up something new along the way as long as they’re willing to give things a try. Even those who focus most on acting often find themselves stretched in ways they never expected — at Raffles Players, exploration is always encouraged over relying on the tried and tested.

Above and beyond that, we value mutual support and encouragement. The freedom in our CCA is very much founded on our trust in each other , so we prize those who are committed to standing by their CCA mates one hundred percent.

More commonly, Players are involved in 3 main annual productions in school — Inter House Competition Dramafeste, College Production and J1 Production. In each production, members are usually given a great deal of authority as to what we want to present; ideas are always appreciated and frequently entertained as we strive to put up something unique and close to our hearts. J1 production especially, an annual production organised by the J1s themselves, will be a memorable bond-forming experience and we can guarantee that the banter and heart-warming efforts put in by everyone will stay lodged in your hearts.

Thirdly, players are hard core.

Standard CCA sessions are on every Wednesday 2 to 5pm. However during production periods, you can only expect rehearsals to be much more hectic. As preparation can take up to nearly half a year to less than a month, rehearsals may vary in frequency and intensity and is usually up to the directors to decide. But hey, all for the sake of having a good time right?

All in all, we are a bunch of dynamic, passionate people committed to putting up good works of theatre and developing our members. So whether you’re seeking to continue your theatre journey in RI or just interested to try something new, why not drop by and try things out? If you think you’re hard working, resilient, and willing to contribute to the Players family, we could be just the right fit for you! In any case, auditions are an excellent time to get a sense of what we do in Players and who we are, so it’s always worth the shot! Auditions typically comprise of a group segment, an individual component, and a quick interview.

At the end of the day, just keep in mind that a journey with us will be unpredictable and at times downright confusing, but at all times exciting and enriching! JC can be stressful, but it can also be a time for great fun and adventure. So why not spend it with the most fun and adventurous people you’ll find? At any rate, we here at Raffles Players wish you all the best in finding the home that best suits you, and welcome you to make the TSD yours.

This article is part of the CCA Previews for 2016.

By Hitomi Yap (16A13A)

Those who wish to sing always find a song.

It’s 2.30pm on a typical Wednesday afternoon, and already, through the half-open doors of Lecture Theatre 1, various vocal exercises and delighted chattering can be heard from the hall within.

As sopranos and altos swoop from high to low and tenors and basses rumble their warm-ups, the whole place takes on an almost aviary-like atmosphere.

Soon, crisp footsteps fast approach, and any stray members still lingering on the steps collect their things and make their way onto stage. The door swings open with a heavy creak, and our conductor Mr Toh Ban Sheng, strides into the theatre and in front of the piano.

Chorale is in session.

Chorale practices consist of two distinct segments – combined sessions, where the whole of Chorale comes together to sing under the instruction of Mr Toh, and sectionals, where the choir splits up into our vocal sections to drill vocal techniques that we’ve learned during combined sessions.

During combined, Mr Toh takes us through our varied repertoire, which, over the years, has included music by composers such as Eric Whitacre and Erik Eisenvalds, to name a few. Always aiming to stretch the choir’s vocal abilities, our carefully-selected repertoires have been challenging, often provoking an excited frustration amongst the members, but nonetheless exhilarating to practice and even more delightful to perform.

Over the years, Mr Toh has developed his own unique set of vocal techniques, which he loves to explain with a flourish of scientific theory. Being a scientist as well as a teacher of music, Mr Toh combines instruction with light quips and reminders on how choristers are living instruments – our bodies, working under the laws of Physics, shape the music and direct it – well, at first, not always the way we want it to go, but we all get there eventually.

As for sectionals: each section – Sopranos, Altos, Basses and Tenors – is divided into two subsections, 1 and 2. During sectionals, the eight sections split up drill vocal techniques and lyrics. Between batches, seniors act as mentors to the juniors, making sure juniors get the hang of the techniques. It’s not all work and no play, though – seniors are warm, friendly, and more like big sisters and brothers in their friendly banter and the way they never tire of keeping the section together, making sure we grow in our shared journey.

Even after practice has ended, some of us are still quietly humming, and occasionally a few will burst into spontaneous song, melodies still lingering in our minds.

No practice is properly closed without a dinner with our dearest batch mates – after purchasing our fare, we sit down for an evening of conversation and laughter. Dinners are important opportunities for us to know one another better, and to relieve ourselves of the stresses of daily life. To further strengthen the bonds within choristers, Chorale also occasionally organizes fun outings for us to get together in our free time, such as our recent trip to Marina Barrage.

Apart from weekly practices, members can look forward to a host of performances, some for charity, others for school events such as Founders’ Day, and even our biennial tours, which allow us to perform on an international stage. During our annual concert, Vocal Delights, we have the chance to group with like-minded (or even not-so like-minded choristers) to go beyond formal choral works and explore colourful modern a capella renditions of popular hits.

At the end of the day, we may be feeling pretty exhausted – after all, practices are held two times a week, averaging four hours per practice – but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, of the progress that we’ve made that brings us just a little closer to our ideal of making great music with people that we care about. The skills we pick up from being exposed to the music of other cultures and languages allow us to better appreciate music in our everyday lives. More importantly, the fact that as we sing we explore our voices and our vocal potential; the lasting friendships that we form, make everything worthwhile in the end. As our teacher-in-charge, Mrs Koh, always says, Chorale is one big family – and this is a family that we’re very proud to be a part of.

If you have any remaining queries, please direct them to Jonathan (jonathantyt@gmail.com) or Reno (rinopiraka@hotmail.com), and we’ll be happy to answer them!