Collaboration is a Thing of Beauty

I feel incredibly full of gratitude to be part of the extraordinary UTS community. This week’s assembly for Asian Heritage Month, brought to us by the Advancing Equity for Asians Committee, was one of those moments that left me in thrall of the tremendous potential and talent of our students, and the diversity of the UTS experience. The Assembly was very moving, not just for the high calibre and vast range of the performances, but for the intensive collaboration on stage and behind the scenes. Our students and staff showed they know how to work together to make great things happen.

The range of performances felt like we were taking a musical song and dance tour across Asia right here in our Withrow Auditorium, evoking a sense of Asian cultures past and present. Many of the songs and performances passed on stories that have in turn been passed down for generations, such as the UTS Choir’s mesmerizing rendition of Wau Bulan, a Malaysian folk song and dance where our students sat in rows singing while performing choreographed hand and body movements. Other performances covered the gamut from South Indian Music to K-Pop and J-Pop to the Taiko drum and the Tanko Bushi, the Coal Miner’s Dance, a Japanese folk song and dance originally performed to depict and ease the toil of the miners’ lives. The timeless notes of the Butterfly Lovers Concerto, one of the most famous Chinese classical music pieces, played by Junior Strings and featuring the conducting debut of one of our S5 students, filled the Auditorium, bringing to life the ancient and tragic legend of the same name. One of our students played O Canada on the guzheng, the Chinese zither (a type of string instrument) accompanied by Junior Strings, and our entire community sang the words.

Cultural sharing like this helps us know and understand each other. Our students come from many different backgrounds and places but have arrived here to UTS with a common appreciation for learning and a love of knowledge. As students shared various aspects of Asian cultures, we all had the opportunity to truly appreciate each other in all of our diversity. The assembly is proof of our powerful UTS community. Whether dancing or playing music, our students demonstrated a level of synchronicity, harmony and teamwork with each other to bring it all together. These are the kinds of interpersonal skills that will serve them for life. Behind the scenes, the Advancing Equity for Asians committee took great consideration to share a diverse range of south Asian cultures and performances. Also, behind the scenes were many students on Stage Crew, all working in tandem to make the performances go smoothly. In short, it took many students working together to bring this assembly to life: a testament to the values we stand for of collaboration, teamwork and inclusion.

My sense of gratitude continued today at lunch, as two more cultural events brought our community together, with food serving as a bridge towards cultural understanding. One of our parents kindly performed a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony for students. And students from Advancing Equity for Asians and the Jewish Culture Club hosted Buns and Buddies, a blend of Asian Heritage Month with Jewish Heritage Month. Dumplings, bagels, ube pandesal (Filipino purple yam bread) were served, giving students not only a chance to not only experience the diversity of our school, but taste it firsthand. Moments like these bring us closer together as a community, building trust and mutual understanding. 

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