Lanya’s eye-catching devil stick team

Many people are unfamiliar with the folk art known as devil sticks, but they have become a distinguishing characteristic of Lanya Elementary School in Taipei’s Shilin District. Since the establishment of the school’s devil stick team in 2007, they have won countless national competitions and are champions in almost everything, be it group, doubles, or individual events; this year, the school team’s goal is eight consecutive championships! Their coach, Chen Reng-de (陳礽德), however, is more concerned about the attitude of students while learning. He reminds students that it takes diligence and hard work to perform your skill on stage.

Coach Chen has devoted over a decade of his life to the art of devil sticks, teaching countless students from scratch to stage glory. In the future, he intends to continue exploring ways to make the students’ performances more electrifying with richer layers of skill content. He also hopes to provide his students with a more stable stage and take this folk art around the world.

以下為中文對照

很多人不了解的民俗技藝撥拉棒，卻打響了台北市士林區蘭雅國小的招牌。他們從二〇〇七年成立撥拉棒校隊以來，每年參加全國性比賽都屢獲佳績，幾乎包攬團體、雙人及個人項目的冠軍，今年的目標更是八連冠。而教練陳礽德更看重的，是學生學習的態度，他希望通過認真努力，登上舞台表現自己的一技之長。

教練陳礽德透過十幾年的付出，讓一大批學生學習撥拉棒從零開始，到走向榮耀的舞台。未來，他還將不斷地摸索，讓學生表演的道具更有可看性，層次、內容更豐富，也希望學生能擁有更穩定的舞台，將這項民俗技藝帶到國外。

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