On April 19, 2025, Saturday, following the Ang-á-phiau event from five days ago, another exciting student-led event was hosted in Albany, NY. The event was called "Shadow Puppetry", a primary form of storytelling and entertainment in the 1950s of Taiwan. It was an opportunity for students to strengthen their leadership skills and foster their cultural connection with their heritage.
While the remarkable results of this event were witnessed, its plan was structured and refined throughout the past few months, beginning as a proposal in a document. Students needed to be meticulous and detailed about their methods, from building the schedule to keeping track of the budget and preparing materials. The significance of this event goes far beyond simply sharing culture—students stepped out of their comfort zones to take on responsibilities and experience the challenges of organizing a meaningful event.
The shadow puppetry workshop was an extension of student exploration regarding their own heritage built on the foundation of their posters about Taiwan. Students conducted research for the formulation of their Taiwan posters, which became the inspiration of their continuous interaction and development of knowledge, drawing them closer to their findings.
The event started with students giving brief introductions to the history and cultural origin of shadow puppetry. Then they began putting their creativity into life by making their own shadow puppets through a detailed procedure. In the charming and imaginative atmosphere, students quickly opened up and chatted excitedly about their creative work. Towards the end of the event, a portable shadow puppetry theatre booth was set up, allowing students to show-off and play around with their finished product. The space was filled with laughter, with students being super active, like buzzing bumblebees. At one moment, a panda puppet even danced to a popular modern song.
"The workshop environment quickly became relaxed,”said one student, “as the students made jokes about the shadow puppets with their peers."
Students didn't expect much at the start, but they were eventually immersed in the fun as the event progressed. “I didn't have much interest at the start, but I thought it was pretty fun," said one participant. “This workshop has deepened my understanding and given me more profound experience on the Taiwanese shadow puppetry. Though I didn't have an ideal rhythm to control my character at the start, after a few tries, I felt very accomplished about my new skill and gained more interest in this cultural activity,” said another.
Participants thrived in this event, making the mentors especially proud. “I am very proud of the students,” said one mentor, “this not only promotes our culture, but also develops their leadership skills. Everybody had a lot of fun.”
The essence of this event isn’t just about the cultural lesson, it also enhanced the students’skills. Despite facing challenges, widening their eyes to more possible scenarios helped them to improve public speaking, consolidate their spirit of not giving up, and unblock their cognitive potential into problem-solving. It was especially an excellent chance to develop the students’ leadership skills in their early life.
There are more events like this to come, and Albany FASCA expects to give young people more experiences of their heritages’ culture and help them work toward being positively influential in their community by being leaders.
Reported by Austin Liu (Albany FASCA)
