On May 13, Boston Latin School’s annual Asian Night event made a most welcome return to an in-person celebration of amazing performances. Hosted by BLS Asian Students in Action (A.S.I.A.), hundreds of students, staff and family members came together to honor Asian American students’ culture at BLS.

This year’s Asian Night theme was “Shades of Solidarity”, representing the many different communities, groups and cultures of Asia. Head of School Rachel Skerritt attended the event, commenting, “I deeply appreciated the thoughtfulness and inclusivity of this year’s theme, ‘Shades of Solidarity’. I also loved the vibrancy and energy of the performances. The incredible amount of work and practice that went into the production was visible throughout the entire show.”

Many attendees enjoyed dinner, catching up with old and new friends and watching a variety of entertaining performances. One act, the BLS Breakers, a talented group of break dancers, were a crowd pleaser with their performance of “A New Dawn,” the story of Darth Plagueis, a character from the Star Wars franchise.

The captivating show would not have been possible without the dedication of A.S.I.A. members and performers. Helena Huynh (II) describes the enormous amount of work needed to make Asian Night a reality: “For BLS Dance, I would practice with members on Mondays and occasionally Thursdays. I am an officer for BLS KOREO,  so we practiced on Wednesdays and occasionally Fridays, but behind the scenes, officers would prepare goodie bags, buy merch and organize formations, outfits and everything to accommodate the 40+ members we have.”

Students from across the BLS community cheered on friends and classmates who performed throughout the evening. Suyen Chiang (IV) attended this year’s Asian Night and believes that it is a “great way to know more about” Asian culture. Her favorite performance was by BLS KOREO because she got to see her friends perform.

Performers for the evening were encouraged by the in-person format and the support of the enthusiastic audience. As performer Lily Do (II) says, “It felt so good being able to perform in-person again and hear the roars of the audience, as well as the packed auditorium filled with people from other schools and cities.”

Honoring the theme of Shades of Solidarity, the final performance of the evening, delivered by REA22EMBLE, was a musical that paid tribute to students’ strength during the pandemic. The musical number highlighted the challenges experienced by the Class of 2022 and emphasized the courage of students as they persevered. From being stuck in virtual learning during their junior year to the shift to in-person learning this year, the performance celebrated how the class united and found reason to rejoice during their final year at BLS.

Asian Night was a huge blast, with the auditorium at its fullest and the crowd constantly cheering. Olivia Huynh (IV), a performer in multiple acts, praises the spirit of the audience members: “I think it’s one of the biggest events of the school year and celebrates the passion that the BLS students have for culture, community and art.”