This piece was on the list for the local music festival for high school students. My teacher was surprised and said that NOBODY is actually going to learn/play it, except maybe me (perhaps he thinks that I'm the only one who is crazy enough to try it?

). So, according to him, I should "play with it."
After "playing" with it, I want to actually do something productive, i.e. learn it.
So, my question is two fold:
1. Should this piece be learned slowly and then gradually speeded up, or will that just lead to a speed wall?
2. Is there a hand motion/position that is necessary for playing this piece quickly?
If you have any experiences with this piece, I would really appreciate that!
Thank you!