On May 14th, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs, Tri-Valley Chapter in collaboration with Dublin hosted an Asian Heritage Celebration event in the Dublin High School theater with performances from a variety of cultures: classical Chinese dance, Kung Fu, choir, Bollywood dance, pop dances, vocal and band ensemble. 

“Our performance is mainly just to showcase a bunch of different cultures. We have Vietnamese performances, Indian (and) Chinese singing, dancing, all kinds of (performances)… (the event helped)…to bring everyone together to celebrate–coming out of COVID—it’s a really cool way to celebrate,” said Kacie Hu (‘24), one of six emcees of Dublin Asian Heritage Celebration 2022.

May is additionally named Asian American and Pacific Islander Month which aims to recognize the contributions of all Asian and Pacific Islander communities to the United States. The APAPA Tri-Valley board organized the event with the goal of AAPI recognition in mind as they had the tickets priced at $10 for the proceeds to fund Dublin’s Heritage and Cultural Art program. 

“I think it is very important that we recognize the influence and contribution of API (Asian and Pacific Islander) in the community (of) our country. (Since) America is the country [nicknamed as] a melting pot. And I want to honor that, and I want to celebrate that,” said Margaret Liang, APAPA Tri-Valley Chapter Board Chair and Executive Director of the Dublin Asian Heritage Celebration 2022.

Performances were coordinated with Spring Music Academy, Sangeeta’s Bollywood Dance School, Amy Violin Studio, Kungfu Dragon USA, 4Ever Dance Studio, MC2, and Xiaopei Chinese Dance. With the aim to present all Asian heritages through this “celebration of cultures”, the APAPA featured 19 performances in total with cultures ranging in Chinese, Indian, American, Italian, Vietnamese, and Filipino.

“I have to say all of the performers are so talented, so professional, these (performers) are really the future (of America)…And the fact that we have such talent in every different culture in every different genre, it’s really wonderful. It is like a fabric with so many colors. We hope to celebrate that. And we hope to cultivate that,” said Liang.

The performances all detailed the true diversity of the Tri-Valley: Indian songs: Kannodu Kaanbadhellaam, Pipa instrument songs: Jiangnan Spring (江南三月), Vietnamese songs: Que Huong, Violin Chinese folk songs: the Fisherman’s song for Harvest (豐收漁歌), Piano Filipino song: Feelings (Damdamin), Chinese martial arts: Young Kung Fu Master (功夫少年), and Chinese Dance: Drums of Dunhuang (敦煌鼓舞).

“I started dancing when I was five, and through a lot of practice, repetition, and rehearsals for all our performances,we were able to perform in a lot of parades such as the San Francisco Parade and other Chinese New Year performances for the API community. I’m happy that we can represent Chinese culture through our traditional dance performance for this Dublin Asian Heritage Celebration Performance,” said Cindy Xing (‘24), Dancer of Xiaopei Chinese Dance Studio.

The umbrella term of Asian American and Pacific Islander shelters communities here in the U.S. that can find their lineage traced back from all across the Asian continent (East, Southeast, and South Asia) related to Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Indian, Filipino, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, and Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. 

“I’m part of Bollywood Dance…So I come from a culture where there’s a lot of variety of dancing…I felt like it was a good way to show other people what our culture looks like and where we exactly came from,” said Aastha Nanda, Bollywood Dance Performer and 7th grader from Fallon Middle School.

Besides the APAPA Tri-Valley Board and Dublin City Council, sponsor representatives, performer studio founders, Alameda County Supervisor, Pleasanton City Council Board, and more were all present at the event to enjoy the performances in the Dublin High School theater.

“I was invited to participate, which I am always thrilled to be able to do again. And I think it’s really important that as an elected leader, we support the diversity in our community. And this is one of them (events) that really showcases the diversity of all the different cultures and it gives us all a chance to see and experience it,” said Kathy Narum, 9-year Pleasanton City Council Board Member.

 While the APAPA Tri-Valley chapter has conducted many efforts of outreach in the community, this performance is the first Dublin Asian Heritage Celebration performance.

“I am honored to support the APAPA Tri-Valley chapter, as APAPA has done much to advocate for our city and its residents, and also empower Asian and Pacific Islander youth to succeed in leadership roles and volunteer efforts… I would like to thank APAPA and all the volunteers who helped to make this event tonight such a great success,” said Melissa Hernandez, Mayor of Dublin.

There were some participants who weren’t part of the APAPA Tri-Valley chapter but still helped to organize the event—like Winnie Liu, Stage Director of the event. Through many credited coordinators, directors, and volunteers of the Asian Heritage Celebration, the event was no doubt a success.

“This is truly a team effort from the city of Dublin, also from the Department of our school district, because this particular theater belongs to the school district. And the theater staff were phenomenal…as well as our performers. And last but not least, our APAPA board member team. Everyone was such a wonderful an integral part of our success…We also want to thank the sponsors that made it happen,” said Liang.

The sponsors for the event: CEI Tutoring, Bay Media Star Inc., Huaxing Arts Group, StateFarm, and Dimen Group Inc., are all designated to support the upcoming APAPA Tri-Valley Chapter (TVC) Internship Program to increase leadership and civic engagement.

“And so I think it’s a great way to really pause and to reflect that we are a diverse community and really a diverse area here in the Tri-Valley, because I’m sure this showcased many talents throughout Livermore Pleasanton, Dublin, and I think I even heard Castro Valley…We’re a community of character and (the performance is) really (about) appreciating the diversity and wanting to showcase it,” said Narum.

Coming back from the pandemic with an increase in AAPI hate crimes across the United States, the AAPI community has become tighter knitted than ever as we now celebrate Asian Heritage Celebration in the Tri-Valley and May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Month.

“It meant the beginning. This is the first-ever Dublin Asian heritage celebration show here in Dublin and perhaps in the Tri-Valley. It is our honor as well as our hope that this marks the beginning of a beautiful tradition in the region. We hope to continue our celebration year after year in the future!” said Liang.