On January 15, local time, Chen Yunyun, a Chinese teacher at the Confucius Institute in Artois, was invited to Denis Diderot Middle School for a pipa class. The class was organized for the middle school's first and fourth grade students, one hour per class, with a total of 31 students participating.
Ms. Chen introduced the history, form and performance occasions of pipa to students in both classes, and selected pipa music of different styles to show its rich expressiveness. While enjoying the music, Ms. Chen not only explained and demonstrated how to play some classical pipa clips, but also guided students to feel the unique charm and beauty of traditional Chinese music. As a way of welcoming the Chinese New Year in the local Chinese class, Ms. Chen also led students to enjoy the Spring Festival music "Full of Joy (喜洋洋Xǐ yáng yáng)", "Rising Higher, Step by Step (步步高Bù bù gāo)" and "Golden Snake Dance (金蛇狂舞Jīn shé kuáng wǔ)". She played on pipa with other traditional Chinese instruments. After finishing one of the pieces, Ms. Chen taught the students how to play the first section of “Full of Joy”.
In this pipa class, students studying Chinese at Denis Diderot College had their first close contact with traditional Chinese musical instruments and learned to appreciate traditional Chinese music. Some students said that this traditional instrument seemed difficult, but they enjoyed it very much.