Stephanie Min-Jae Kim, Grade 11
UWCSEA Singapore (Dover)
One of the biggest, most anticipated events in the UWCSEA Dover community is the annual celebration of diversity–UN (United Nations) Day. Consisting of a dress-up day, a food festival, and a multicultural performance, it showcases all the different cultures that the school has to offer and gives students a platform to appreciate their own and each other’s heritage.
The day starts off special; as you walk on to campus you notice the vibrant colors and buzz of energy coming from students and teachers dressed in their national dress or colors. As the day progresses, the excitement only builds leading up to the performances and food festival taking place after school. With the bell at 3pm, the lessons end and the celebrations begin. The students rush out of their classrooms and begin to set up the food and merch stalls and get into costume ready for the performance.
By the time the evening is fully-fledged, there are crowds of people lining up for the show, the mouth-watering smell of foods from all over the world, and the excited chatter of people filling the air.
However, the true star of the night is the series of performances. UN Night, the performance that involves dancing, singing, drumming, and more, is truly spectacular in that it brings to the spotlight every kind of culture that UWC students cherish, including the China Ribbon Dance, Korean Drumming, the Uruguayan Tango, and the Punjabi Bhangra to name a few.
The show is made even more special because it is produced, choreographed, and staged entirely by students. Though it may seem like any other day to the outside community, the truth is, to the students participating in the event–be it on stage, backstage, or fundraising by selling cultural food or merchandise–it is the result of weeks of preparation and a night of hard work.
The planning begins in the minds of the student producers months before the news of the performance even reaches the other students. From the first week back from the summer holidays, the producers are choosing and editing music, choreographing dances and devising drum beats, and preparing for auditions.
On the days of the auditions, the dance and drama studios are packed with ambitious and nervous students looking for performances to join. The competition is fierce, with students from grades 8 through 12 fighting for a place on the stage. This friendly competitive spirit is also what drives performers to try to secure the best spot on the running order of the show–The Finale. This is the motivation for students to rehearse extra hard and put in all their effort and energy into making a great performance.
But the true beauty of UN Night is in the way the cultures mix. Students make it a point to join dances of countries that are not theirs, and learn about the cultures they were not aware of. To see Chinese students producing the K-Pop Dance performance and Asian students dancing for the Brazil performance shows how we have surpassed the cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent us from doing so. UN Night is truly a night where UWC comes together to celebrate all cultures and surpasses all boundaries.
The day starts off special; as you walk on to campus you notice the vibrant colors and buzz of energy coming from students and teachers dressed in their national dress or colors. As the day progresses, the excitement only builds leading up to the performances and food festival taking place after school. With the bell at 3pm, the lessons end and the celebrations begin. The students rush out of their classrooms and begin to set up the food and merch stalls and get into costume ready for the performance.
By the time the evening is fully-fledged, there are crowds of people lining up for the show, the mouth-watering smell of foods from all over the world, and the excited chatter of people filling the air.
However, the true star of the night is the series of performances. UN Night, the performance that involves dancing, singing, drumming, and more, is truly spectacular in that it brings to the spotlight every kind of culture that UWC students cherish, including the China Ribbon Dance, Korean Drumming, the Uruguayan Tango, and the Punjabi Bhangra to name a few.
The show is made even more special because it is produced, choreographed, and staged entirely by students. Though it may seem like any other day to the outside community, the truth is, to the students participating in the event–be it on stage, backstage, or fundraising by selling cultural food or merchandise–it is the result of weeks of preparation and a night of hard work.
The planning begins in the minds of the student producers months before the news of the performance even reaches the other students. From the first week back from the summer holidays, the producers are choosing and editing music, choreographing dances and devising drum beats, and preparing for auditions.
On the days of the auditions, the dance and drama studios are packed with ambitious and nervous students looking for performances to join. The competition is fierce, with students from grades 8 through 12 fighting for a place on the stage. This friendly competitive spirit is also what drives performers to try to secure the best spot on the running order of the show–The Finale. This is the motivation for students to rehearse extra hard and put in all their effort and energy into making a great performance.
But the true beauty of UN Night is in the way the cultures mix. Students make it a point to join dances of countries that are not theirs, and learn about the cultures they were not aware of. To see Chinese students producing the K-Pop Dance performance and Asian students dancing for the Brazil performance shows how we have surpassed the cultural barriers that may otherwise prevent us from doing so. UN Night is truly a night where UWC comes together to celebrate all cultures and surpasses all boundaries.
www.unitedworldwide.co