Concord students recently came together to devise and perform “Celebrating Together” a show which combined a collection of pieces of drama, dance and music which drew on various celebratory events around the world.

Principal, Dr Michael Truss, was pleased to welcome visitors and the college community alike to experience the student’s creativity: “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to be able to share cultural celebrations from around the world through dance, music, costume, storytelling and visual arts.

“Concord students are drawn from about 40 different countries around the world. Since our foundation 75 years go, it has been a key part of our mission to bring children from different cultures and backgrounds to learn together, to make friends with each other and to increase their understanding about the world around them.”

“In creating the showcase, our students themselves have the chance to re-connect with stories and traditions from their own culture. Some of these are very familiar to them from home, while others may have been lost in the whirl of busy modern lives. There are also a couple of nods to newer, modern cultural traditions”

Each of the College’s national and regional societies was invited to create part of the performance with many students also taking part in dramatic sections designed to weave all of the celebrations together.

Eleven societies produced their own responses to the theme with a huge range of celebrations explored including Children’s day, National days, weddings and even bonfire night. The concept of sharing favourite seasonal celebrations from home came to life in a joyous and spectacular show.

Creating a common thread, joining segments looked at “the game of life” and the importance of celebrating what we have.

Performances were arranged by seasons of the year and the college’s Form 3 students created magical shadow puppet theatre to introduce each the season.

Over 230 students took part in the production which played over three evenings and a matinée to very appreciative audiences of fellow students, staff, parents, alumni and local visitors.

Some of the societies also took their parts of the performance “on the road”. Fifteen societies visited three local primary schools (five societies to each) to share a little of their home culture with the children. These “pop-up” performances also ran at various locations around the Concord campus during showcase week.

Dr Colin Stanford, Chairman of the board of Trustees and Mrs Heather Stanford, were delighted by the Showcase: “We were lucky enough to watch The Concord Showcase along with many students, staff, parents and local residents. It was an absolute roller coaster of a performance with huge energy, diverse and challenging content which had us all on the edge of our seats. All put together by our students.”

Creativity didn’t stop with the show itself, many of the beautiful images accompanying this article were taken by Concord Photography Club members Andy and Kim.