LAA’s 11th anniversary celebrations saw the reprisal of an original production Chutki, staged in 2013 that was written by a former student. The story was adapted from Paro Anand’s children novel Wingless, in which the protagonist, angel princess Chutki finds friendship and love in her journey to gain acceptance for being different.
Encounters in the Heartlands • When Chance meets Change
More than 50 children and youths staged an original production about their encounters in the heartlands that brought them out of their comfort zones. In one of the stories, four teenagers are stuck in a lift; they share their personal challenges and motivate each other to embrace Chance as an opportunity for Change.
A jungle scene comes alive in 3D from the iPhones of audiences as they watched the children of arts training centre, The Little Arts Academy (LAA) perform in “Ki”, a year end theatre show adapted from English author Rudyard Kipling’s classic children story, The Jungle Book.
The jungle scene is one of several digital backdrops that have been created and animated by the children and youths aged six to 19 using digital art tools such as Google’s Tilt brush to provide an immersive experience.
This infusion of technology is a first time for a production by LAA, which celebrated its 10th anniversary in November 2018.
Says curriculum manager, Azizah Abdullah, “The children have taken the ownership for this performance to go beyond traditional art making so as to bring a new experience to this production. They feel a sense of accomplishment when they see their works come to ‘live’ through the use of digital technologies, which opens up new and unexpected possibilities.”
See the world in Rhythmic Patterns through the eyes of young and talented budding artists from our advanced visual arts programme, Mini Monet.
The artworks reflect a unique perspective of the many hidden patterns that can be found in their surroundings. They are also an expression of how children see beauty in the ordinary. With their vivid imagination, they have created a new dimension filled with endless possibilities.
Using creative patterns and vibrant colours, our young artists invite you to relook at what is conventional and make new discoveries with innovative ways of pattern recognition.
Fun With Lines is an excursion into the children’s imaginative worlds and by extrapolation, a view into their hobbies, interests and greatest desires. From accidental paint splatters, to hidden shapes and energetic musical beats, these young visual art students have sought inspiration from everyday interactions that inspired them to put their imagination onto canvas. For the first time, this exhibition features the use of Augmented Reality (AR) infused into their art works. Step into a curious world of Fun With Lines and experience the blurred lines of reality and fiction!
Performed by the children of The Little Arts Academy, DamaiLane: Part 1, is based on Sing to the Dawn by Minfong Ho. The story follows the life of Dara, a young village girl who wins a scholarship to study in the city school. Her Father, a conservative man disapproves of her furthering her studies, while her brother, Kamal becomes envious. Dara faces obstacles at every turn and eventually overcomes them and proved to herself and others that she is capable.
A special performance by the students and alumni from LAA and 10 Square Youth. Titled “A Special TSA: Truth, Struggles & Achievement”, the main cast narrated their stories through a series of videos and performances that depict their experiences of how the Fund has helped them break free from their obstacles.
As the end of 2016 approaches, it is now time for the LAA’s annual year-end production. This year, the play put up will be a reimagination of Roald Dahl’s riveting children’s novel ‘The BFG’, the story of a big friendly giant, his human friend Sophie and their quest of a lifetime to save the children from human-eating giants. The morning of 1 December, opening day of ‘The BFG’, is buzzing with adrenaline at 10square@Orchard Central, where the play will be held. This is the day that the children have all been waiting for, the day they will showcase their individual talents, after weeks upon weeks of tireless rehearsals. Here’s a peek of ‘The BFG’!
On 29 November 2016, the annual Mini Monet Visual Arts Exhibition was held at 10Square at Orchard Central, featuring art works by 10 of our young artists aged between 10 to 12 years old.
These young artists are under a year-long Mini Monet Arts Programme sponsored by the United Overseas Bank (UOB), where they will go through visual arts training at the Little Arts Academy. Over the course of the year, these students are then required to produce 2 to 3 pieces of artwork and their works are then featured after completion of the programme at the annual Mini Monet exhibition to celebrate their graduation.
On 13th May 2016, the children division and the youth division of the Little Arts Academy collaborated to put up performances for the 11th anniversary of BT BAF (The Business Times Budding Artists Fund), which was held at 10Square Auditorium. The performances were multidisciplinary as they encompass singing and dancing.
The auditorium was bursting with cheers, exclamations and blasting music the moment Stylo Mylo dance group walked up the stage. Who wouldn’t be amazed at the skills of Stylo Mylo? These young children from the Little Arts Academy won the hearts of the crowd with their sharp, refined hip hop movements, from the way they swung their hips to the way they shook their heads. One couldn’t help moving his body along with these energetic, animated children.
In stark contrast to the Nu Style performance by Stylo Mylo, the house was brought to a complete silence when they heard the angelic voice of Hayati. To complement her sweet voice, Twinklers, our very own Ballet students, moved with the rhythm around Hayati, making it one of the most beautiful performances ever! This collaboration of the youth and the children division added a perfect note to the night when we commemorated the 11th anniversary of BT BAF.
This anniversary production titled A Tree’s Tale is adapted from The See-Saw Tree, a play written by David Wood. Performed by children from The Little Arts Academy, it tells a story of resilience and creativity in the face of adversity. The play ends with a twist which asks for your participation.
Each year, a group of children-budding visual artists from The Little Arts Academy are selected to be a part of the Mini Monet Programme. Through their artwork, these children display their vivid imagination, rich creativity and the world as seen through their young eyes. More importantly, they show potential in being tomorrow’s leading artists and bringing communities together using their talent and passion for visual arts. The Mini Monet programme, an advanced level visual arts programme, seeks to provide greater support for talented young visual artists from financially disadvantaged families. United Overseas Bank (UOB) has been the sponsor for this programme since 2010. The Little Arts Academy is grateful to UOB for their steadfast support. In this year’s edition, the children shares what being a Mini Monet means to them…
A beautifully painted cherry blossom tree, accompanied by white cranes neatly scattered on the floor of the auditorium at 10 Square @ Orchard Central was the focal backdrop of LAA’s 6th annual production, Dreams.
More than 40 children and youth were involved in the production. Dreams was graced by Ms Kathy Lai, CEO, National Arts Council, and attended by board members of The RICE Company Limited, Board of Trustees of The Business Times Budding Artists Fund, partners, sponsors, families and guests. Held from 22nd to 23rd November 2014, the children performed in front of almost 200 guests who came to watch the two productions.
Seventeen 2D artworks and eight 3D sculptures were showcased at the Mini Monet 2014 Exhibition held at 10 square @ Orchard Central from 21 November to 25 November. Crafted and painted using various medium, these imaginative art pieces were the works of 10 children from the Mini Monet class, an advanced visual arts class supported by the United Overseas Bank (UOB). The theme of the artworks this year was Imagination.
The opening ceremony, attended by more than 30 guests comprising families, friends and supporters, was graced by Ms Tan Ping Ping, Vice President of the Group Brand Performance and Corporate Communications, United Overseas Bank.
Sponsored by UOB since 2010, the Mini Monet programme is an advanced level visual arts programme at The Little Arts Academy. UOB will be extending their sponsorship for another group of talented budding visual artists next year.
The Little Arts Academy’s very own junior show choir made their debut at the Business Times Budding Artists Fund’s (BT BAF) 9th year anniversary celebrations held at the Academy’s premises on 9th May 2014. Only a month old, they performed a catchy ONE Direction hit ‘While we’re young’, much to the delight of the guests. The celebration was attended by over 100 guests, among which were members of the BT BAF Board of Trustees, supporters, partners and donors, beneficiaries and parents. Guests were treated to a series of performances by the children and youth at LAA from the different disciplines.
Nineteen Bright and Bold works graced the gallery at The Arts House from the 28 November to 2 December. The beautiful works were among the best creative expressions of 10 children from the Mini Monet class supported by the United Overseas Bank.
Done in a range of media, including Jumping Clay and Cloth, the artworks spoke of the numerous hours of hard work, patience, love and joy of these young artists and their supportive parents and family members.
After almost three months of intensive rehearsals, the day to stage LAA’s fifth anniversary production – Chutki, had finally arrived. An hour before the matinee show was scheduled to start, parents and guests were lining up outside for their tickets to gain admission at the Alliance Francaise.
Chutki is a story that advocates acceptance, while at the same time presenting the beauty of the arts. This story was written by Nur Shahanaaz Muhd Taufik, one of the Youth Division theatre students, and was adapted from the story Wingless, by Paro Anand,about theangel princess Chutki who was born without wings and thus treated differently by the other angels.
More than 60 children from across all four art forms and youth from LAA were involved in the production. The children and youth ballerinas took on the role of Happy and Dark Angels, while the Nu Style dancers were the street kids that introduced Chutki, our protagonist, to the beauty of the arts. The budding actors from the Children Division took on the roles of the main and supporting casts. Coordinating all of them, as well as the stage was the Young Actors Anonymous, the Youth Division @ LAA theatre group. The youth took on the roles of Assistant Director, Costume Designer, Stage Manager and more, taking charge of the performance from the backstage.
