Summer Happenings: FOCC Rag 2014

“…watch as the kingdom that he holds so dear descends into a nightmare of chaos and darkness, and he is the only one who can stop this. Can he defend himself against the evil Jafar? Can he wish his way out of the nightmarish mayhem? Can he marry the beautiful princess Jasmine and live happily ever after? Fly away with Aladdin on his magical journey, as he shows you a whole, new world.”

8^th August 2014. After 2 months of intense, backbreaking (almost too literally) rehearsals, it had finally come down to this. One chance to put up a brilliant show. One chance to bring to fruition the countless hours put to practice. One chance to show that us Law students knew how to work a crowd just as well as we could work the courtroom and a panel of judges.

And boy did they put up one heck of a performance. Equal parts tongue-in-cheek, dramatic, sexy, enigmatic, evocative and exuberant, the writer could feel tears of pride welling up as he witnessed 2 months of hard work coalesce before his very eyes.

As soon as the tireless floaters set up the Arabic-themed backdrop, Law Rag 2014 kicked off with Aladdin and princess Jasmine meeting for the first time in a bustling marketplace. The saccharine sweet air of young love soon dissipated with the capture of Aladdin by the army of buff, imposing palace guards.

Soon after his escape from the palace prison, Aladdin (in a most charming scene) found the lamp, and had his wish to become a prince granted by the cutest, blue-est (and skinniest) genie the world has ever seen. Ensconced by an adoring, over-enthusiastic group of fawning fangirls and fanboys, the dashing Aladdin sought to woo Jasmine.

Jasmine herself was very much a prick-tease, bringing out her harem of gorgeous palace girls to perform a fiery, sexy dance piece which eventually sent much of the male audience off to take a cold shower. Not to be outdone, Aladdin also brought out his swag-crew of palace guys to, in the words of their most dirty-minded choreographer, “explode”.

 

Revelling in their combined sexiness, Aladdin and Jasmine proceeded on to their iconic “Whole New World” scene. However, their romance was soon rudely cut short by Jafar and his minions. Beat with fearsome black lips and fiery eyes, and outfitted with barely-there lace tops, Jafar’s harem of girls set the tone of the scene from the get-go. Flanked by his misshapen minions, Jafar captured Jasmine in a giant hourglass (Jasmine somehow still writhing around seductively in the tight space). The scene eventually bubbled over into a battle of epic proportions, with Aladdin finally putting an end to the nefarious Jafar.

With victory and the incandescent Jasmine both firmly in Aladdin’s manly hands, Law Rag 2014 culminated in an effusive, exuberant final celebration scene — a scene so joyous that the crowd could not help but clap and sing along in unison.

As they held their final pose, the freshmen batch of Law students could truly bask in the cheers and applause, for they had put up a show that they could undeniably be proud of. More importantly, the friendships and memories forged during Rag will carry them through the rest of Law school.

 Many thanks to:

The floaters, who worked tirelessly behind the scenes in what is often an under-appreciated job.

The dancers, who came for rehearsals and were always working hard to improve.

The Sex-Tonight-ers, who stayed back after regular rehearsals to master the art of Sex-Tonight.

The seniors, who came down to give us their invaluable feedback.

My fellow dance and Rag committee members, who have been the most awesome, stupid, irritating, crazy, talented, hardworking bunch of people to work with.

Thank you for making it all worth it xoxo.

 

Article by:
Ernest Wong (Year 2)
Rag Dance Committee
FOCC Rag Committee 2013/14

Photography by:
Leung Liwen (Year 2)