By Nick Yates, ISB Communications
Published on Monday, March 28, 2022
In 2021, the International School of Beijing (ISB) Fringe Arts Festival was a celebration of all the performing arts at ISB in Kindergarten to Grade 12. Over 800 students and staff staged dozens of performances over the three days. And now the school’s talented actors, dancers, and musicians are ready for a second edition!
In a new tradition for the ISB community, the 2022 Fringe Festival will take place from Wednesday, March 30 to Friday, April 1. Details of the schedule and of which groups are performing are on the official Fringe Festival 2022 website. Excitement is building in all grades as there will be plenty of opportunities for classes to watch the shows.
A fringe festival is a multi-day performing arts event involving diverse smaller-scale productions and concerts, open to anyone to perform. Think the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe every August in Scotland. The format is perfect for this era, when Covid-19 disruptions have had a heavy impact on theater everywhere. The ISB Fringe Festival is a welcome opportunity for artists here to shine and for audiences to enjoy the experience.
ISB places a lot of value in performing arts, seeing it as part of a balanced education alongside traditional academics. Award-winning playwright Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig and movie producer Anita Gou are among the many performing arts alumni of ISB. The world-class campus has dedicated theaters and recording spaces that are perfect stages for a whole troupe of ISB curricular and co-curricular programs in the arts.
This year’s Fringe Festival offers a huge range of attractions – from choirs to variety shows, big bands to one-act plays, film screenings to dance, DJs to comedy, philharmonic orchestras to improv. It’s a perfect example of how ISB gives everyone chances to discover and develop their theatrical passions – from the littlest Elementary School dancer to the Senior destined for movie greatness to the teacher with a hidden singing talent, and everyone in between.
The Media page of the Fringe Festival website has professionally recorded videos of last year’s performances. It will be updated in early April with this year’s shows.
And check out the slideshows in this article for pictures from last year and from rehearsals and preparations for this year. ISB community members can go to Vidigami for far more pics.
Enjoy the show!