Mountlake Terrace High School had the opportunity to represent six out of the seven continents (excluding Antarctica) at this year’s multicultural assembly. This year’s assembly was truly a great one, with singing, dancing, and clothing ranging from all across the world.
The assembly opened with hosts Adam Esayas and Miguel de Guzman, who quickly introduced themselves and began: ISU read the land acknowledgement, followed by Cenai Kidane’s singing of the Black National Anthem.
Before performances began, Jarra and Kiki introduced the flag walk, allowing students to proudly hold their country’s flag. Over 30 countries were represented, including Armenia, Eritrea, Nicaragua, Palestine, and Uzbekistan.
After the flag walk, performances began, the first of which was by Amsalu Mitchell to the song, Found the Way. People quickly began clapping and raising their phone flashlights to match the beat. Moving on, LSU was the next to perform, led by Dayana Hernandez, who built a dance remix composed of different dance styles from all over Latin America, showcasing not only the dances but also different music styles that are typically played at parties and celebrations in the Latino community. Following, we had a great performance led by Madeleine Keating and Emily Bozick, who showcased a mix of artistic and traditional Irish Dance along with four other great dancers. And to end the first half of the assembly, the fashion show began: many students were able to share cultural and traditional pieces of clothing from their countries, including, but not limited to: South Korea–hanbok, Mongolia–deel dress, and Mexico–folklore dancing dress.
In continuance, five more dances were performed: Madina Aburashidova with a traditional Chamanda Gul dance from Uzbekistan, her native country. Alice Pham and Kim Banh with a modern fan dance from Vietnam, traditionally performed to symbolize celebration, beauty, and harmony. Rania Qibaa and Menna Namatalla showcased traditional belly dancing.
LSU was brought back, once again, to perform a traditional dance from Mexico, adding a little twist by allowing volunteers to join in the last bits of their performance. Lastly, we turned back to Pham, who performed a traditional hat dance, along with five more amazing dancers, portraying the connection between the Vietnamese land and its people. But before our multicultural assembly could be wrapped up, an extra little dance–or dances I should say–were added, in the form of a game. Around 10 people from the crowd were chosen and blindfolded to dance to a variation of TikTok songs; if they didn’t know the dance, they lost, and little by little, contestants were eliminated, until one stood.
Yet again, this year’s assembly was fantastic! A big shout-out to those who participated and shared a piece of their culture with us. It was a great experience to see and learn from different cultures, traditions, and countries, a truly memorable assembly.
