TORONTO(25th June, 2022): This year, Dancing Damsels Inc. hosted their iconic Multiculturalism Day Celebrations online on Saturday 25th June 2021, virtually via Facebook Live and Youtube, and the importance and benefits of Multiculturalism were established through the beautiful performances, dignitary greetings, messages, discussions panel, montages and many more.
This event began with the welcome speech and the land acknowledgment by Mary Ashok, Managing Director, Dancing Damsels Inc; followed by the national anthem beautifully sung by Vani Natarajan. Ashok explained how multiculturalism helps us to preserve our culture, provides recognition, allows us to creatively exchange between cultural groups and how constant exposure to other cultures leads to acceptance. Sahana Ramshankar, a summer student worker at Dancing Damsels and a student of McMaster University was the emcee of this event.
Dr.Brenda Beck, a Canadian anthropologist and a researcher and exporter of Tamil culture, was the key note speaker. Her passion motivates the tremendous research she has conducted on Tamil culture, South Asian mythology and Tamil folk stories. For her great work, she has received several awards from various Tamil communities in the US, Canada, and India. Her speech about the symbolism of the sun and the moon in Tamil culture was truly eye-opening for many.
Dancing Damsels Inc. received multiple messages and greetings from dignitaries, community leaders and many authorities to grace this occasion. The dignitaries who took their time to send these videos despite their very busy schedules include The Honorable Pablo Rodriguez (Minister of Canadian Heritage and Quebec Lieutenant), The Honorable Doug Ford (Premier of Ontario), His Worship Gordon Krantz (Mayor of Milton), Paul Chiang (MP of Markham Unionville), Shaun Chen (MP Scarborough North), Daisy Wai (MPP of Richmond Hill), Billy Pang (MPP of Markham Unionville), Stephen Crawford (MPP of Oakville), Logan Kanapathi (MPP of Markham Thornhill), Doly Begum (MPP of Scarborough Southwest), Vincent Ke (Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture), Raymond Cho (MPP of Scarborough North), Cynthia Lai (Councilor of Toronto City), and Jennifer McKelvie (Councilor of Toronto City). Dancing Damsels works in partnership with many community organizations for their events and activities and some of these community leaders sent their greetings on this wonderful occasion, and they include Nadarajah Moorty (Secretary Senior Tamil Society of Peel), Cynthia Chow (Lead Dancer of Mississauga Chinese Arts Organization) and Ronit Eizenman (Principle Choreographer and Dancer Nirkoda Israeli Dance Troupe). Finally, messages were also received from the Director of Dancing Damsels Inc. Dr.Soni Rajan, and the Honorary Patron of Dancing Damsels, Dr. Asha Seth. Everyone shared their thoughts on why Canada should continue celebrating multiculturalism and women empowerment and how it benefits our beautiful communities.
An event can never be fulfilled without entertainment, and this program consisted of both music and dance performances from various cultures. Dr.Naveenet Sharma presented his new collaboration with singer Julia Kingsbury and Music director Alok Merwin, presenting a mashup of Pasoori X Ambarsariya. Sawara Rao, a full-time student beautifully executed a Kannada Song called Summane Summane originally sung by Bombay Jayshree. Vani Natarajan, a 16-year-old musician, singer, dancer, and martial artist sang an Italian number as the third and final song of the day. The first dance performance was presented by MCAO (Mississauga Chinese Arts Organization), which was then followed by a collaborative effort between Dancing Damsels and Tonatiuh Mexican Folklore Group to present a Mexican Folklore dance to a Tamil song. These performances not only entertained the audience but were also a great opportunity to be exposed to and learn music and dance forms of other cultures.
A Panel Discussion on “Immigration from a Youth Perspective” was hosted by Sahana Ramshankar, along with the panelists: Stefanie Markevich, a McMaster University student pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Medical Physics, and Venus Baddie, also a McMaster University student obtaining her Honors degree in Biology with a double minor in French and Business. The experiences migrating to this new country, the struggles that were faced and how they ultimately found comfort in our new homes were some of the topics that were discussed during this panel session.
In keeping with the multiculturalism theme, a montage was created by the Summer job students of Dancing Damsels. This montage focused on exhibiting the beautiful international dance forms along with the history of multiculturalism and the International Dance Festival. The several visuals of dances and costumes of different cultures functioned as yet another educational opportunity for the audience.
Before concluding this event, the winners of the Father’s Day Photo contest were announced. The finishing line was said to be “nail-biting” but one contestant was clearly the winner. Lalish Chandran was announced as the clear winner, followed by Manoj Jacob and Anoop Chand as the 1st and 2nd runner up, respectively.
The event successfully ended with the vote of thanks by Mary Ashok to all the dignitaries, sponsors, volunteers, participants and patrons of DD.
Report by: Sahana Ramshankar,
