Toronto: The vibrant and diverse community of Toronto came together on Saturday, June 24th, 2023, at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto for the annual Canadian Multiculturalism Day Celebration. This event showcased the rich tapestry of cultures that make up our nation. On this day, the importance and benefits of multiculturalism were exhibited through various speeches, presentations, dance, music, and theatrical performances.
The Multiculturalism Day event kicked off with the Welcome Speech by Mary Ashok, Managing Director of Dancing Damsels. She began with the land acknowledgement and proceeded to explain how multiculturalism allows us to preserve our culture, provides recognition, and promotes acceptance by allowing for creative exchanges between different ethnic groups. The event was inaugurated with the Canadian National Anthem sung by noted singer Samantha Lai.
The event was then taken over by the host of the evening, Sahana Ramshankar, a summer student program coordinator at Dancing Damsels Inc.
The event started with a greeting from Mr. Raymond Cho, MPP Scarborough North and Minister for Seniors and Disabilities. The keynote speech on Multiculturalism was presented by Ms. Lily Shi, the vice president of Elite Chinese Arts Troupe and a scientist with the Canadian Government. Her well-rounded personality allowed us to learn a lot from her experience as a Chinese immigrant and performing artist.
One of the primary goals of this event is to initiate inclusivity and interactive activities. Thus, allowing everyone to talk to people of different backgrounds and understand their cultures. Sahana hosted an interactive game known as Human Bingo in which players had to move around the room and collect the signatures of those who had the facts listed on the bingo sheet. The first- place winner, Ms. Manjula, won a Winners Gift Card sponsored by Vivek Bhatt, a consultant at Global Risk Management Institute. While the second and third place winners, Mr. Chris and Ms. Ila respectively, won handmade greeting cards by Sumathy Seralathan, Director of Tamil Canadians with Special Needs. The host Sahana then made a short presentation about the history of Multiculturalism in Canada to raise awareness of the importance of immigration that forms the cultural mosaic of Canada.
The Multiculturalism Day Event acted as the kick-off ceremony for the upcoming Toronto International Dance Festival (TIDF). TIDF 2023 is an annual multicultural dance festival that brings together dancers representing diverse cultures and art forms. The TIDF 2023 Festival Manager, Parul Verma, made the opening remarks about the festival, giving the audience a taste of what’s to come. Following this, a ribbon cutting ceremony took place to officially kick-start the preparations for the TIDF 2023 happening in November this year.
An event can never be fulfilled without entertainment, and this program consisted of both music and dance performances from various cultures. A ravishing Mexican Dance from the land of Jalisco was performed by Tonatiuh Mexican Folklore Group. Samatha Lai, a well rounded Chinese Canadian singer who has been performing for about 30 years in various prestigious events across the GTA, performed multiple songs that brought the audience members up to the dance floor. A group of young talented dancers from HB Dance Grooves performed an energetic dance number with a collection of songs from different languages, genres, and varieties. Roveena Chand Jassal and group presented a soulful and interactive performance titled “Thank You for breathing”. This storytelling dance combines multicultural styles with songs from Toronto based music artists to highlight different communities coming together in the city.
Finally, the Parai, an Indigenous traditional drumming of Tamils was showcased by Malakottai Maari Parai Team. This drumming was primarily utilized in ancient times to convey messages within the community, however, the use of Parai has slowly diminished throughout the years. This power packed musical Parai performance left the entire room in high spirits.
Gita Sankaran, Executive Director of Dancing Damsels, presented her final vote of thanks to all the participants, volunteers, performers, dignitaries, and patrons of DD. In keeping with the multiculturalism theme, food from various cuisines was provided at the end of the event. The food partly sponsored Kanmani Dhanasekar of KanCan Immigration Services was greatly appreciated and enjoyed by everyone.
The success of this year’s Canadian Multiculturalism Day event serves as a testament to the unity and inclusivity that defines our community. It stands as a reminder that despite our differences, we can come together to celebrate our shared humanity, fostering a vibrant and harmonious society for all.
For more information about this organization visit: www.ddarts.ca or www.ddshows.com
Report by: Sahana Ramshankar
