Providing our children with nurturing environments is more of a challenge in today's world than it has ever been. Many children do not live in homes with yards and gardens to explore or in neighborhoods where they can spend hours playing outside. Even the children who do live in such places often have so many scheduled activities that they have very little time to spend in their yards and gardens. Many children are spending more of their time inside buildings than outdoors at earlier and earlier ages. When children are in school, unless they participate in outdoor sports, they spend most of their time inside.

Kuala Sepetang is a fishing village located in Perak, the town was formerly known as Port Weld. Kuala Sepetang also part of the heritage of mangrove ecosystem. The 40,000-hectare Matang Mangrove Forest was gazetted as a Permanent Forest Reserve in 1906. Today, it is recognized as the best managed sustainable mangrove ecosystem in the world and under care by Perak State Forestry Department.

As children today lack of opportunity exploring the nature environment especially the Matang Mangroves forest, so I would like to propose a program “ Beat & Dance in Nature - Exploring Mangrove Forest ”. This program will bring Kuala Sepetang children for the Ecological education in conjunction Performing Arts.

\Arts education is an important part of quality education, especially for the Performing Arts, is a combination of physical education and aesthetic education in one, both of which are lacking in our formal educational system. In recent years, a group of artists in the country under the leadership of Director Soon Choon Mee under a project namely "Dan Dan Theatre Production” have organized several "Community Arts Carnival" activities in suburban communities around Selangor. She envisions fostering imaginative, creative and self-confident of our young generation through series of performing arts program; furthermore, her project also aims to build community resources, promote community solidarity, and shape a community rich in arts and humanities values.

Performing arts is considered rare in Kuala Sepetang, in order to bring performing arts closer to Sepetang’s, and allow them to enjoy a pleasant atmosphere and content of art performing, we invite a group of passionate artists to share their creativity in this community.

Finally, we will invite their parents and villagers to attend the kids performing Show. This is the most important sharing among kids and parents and also the community.

To cultivate children's sense of rhythm and their body rhythm in response to music, instill self-awareness and encourage children to express themselves through performing arts (drum and dance)

1. Let the children involve in nature and art activities to promote their understanding and caring on their own community;
2. Encourage conservation mind set and be proud of their community/hometown;
3. Strengthen children's environmental awareness via DIY installation art using recycled materials and garbage.

Total of 100 students.

We will invite four dance and percussion artists to facilitate the workshop, lead the children into their familiar mangroves, then struck a dialogue with nature in a quiet environment; through observing nature such as leaves and trees, children's are led to dance with nature. Each artist will design an activity related to performing art (such as dancing like a leaf, express feeling after listening to the wind rustling, etc.). Children will take turns in each station; at the end children are welcomed to share their experiences and feelings. “ Beat and Dance in Nature” performing show will be done by the kids. Through the performing, they will share their experiences and feelings, Parents through the child stage performances will understanding the significance of this workshop..

Proposed Activities and Time Table :

0800-0830 Registration

0830-0900 Walking into the mangroves

0900-1015 Performing Arts (a) – know the Mangrove

1030-1145 Performing Arts (b) – Beating

1200-1245 Lunch & Rest

1300-1415 Performing Arts (c) - Dancing

1430-1545 Performing Arts (d) – Beating & Dancing

1545-1600 Walking back to the school

1630-1700 Rest and preparation for concert

1700-1830 “ Beat and Dance in Nature” Show

1830 Ending

Introduction on co-organizer and artists.

“Dan Dan Theatre Production”, was founded in 1992 by Soon Choon Mee, formerly it was a theater group with a single objective i.e. production of novel show, but presented in localized touch. They performed numerous times in Malaysia and invited to Japan, Korea, India etc. in 1995. In recent years, this organization is committed to promote performing art into the community, so that more children and community residents have the opportunity to embrace beauty of arts.

Today, with children’s lives disconnected from the natural world, their experiences are predominately mediated in media, written language and visual images. From the outdoor activities through performing arts and exploring Mangroves forest, children can understand the ecological values of mangroves and cultivate them to love their home.

After attending the workshop, we hope children could be equipped with better sensation on arts, able to have a deeper understanding on themselves; they will be brave and able to express their inner feelings. Parents and villagers will appreciate children's artistic talent, they also may aware that caring and loving their home should be cultivated in young children.

In addition, team activities will enhance their coordination with other members, learning how to cooperate and work with other people. Moreover, their sense of rhythm will be improved, and able to embrace beauty of arts.