Despite having held annual live performances in the school auditorium for years, the Asian Cultural Club has made a difficult decision this year—of course, due to the circumstances surrounding COVID-19. Instead of canceling their annual live event known as Asian Night, however, the club has decided to persevere despite the difficulties and hold it virtually.

As something that is highly anticipated at the end of the year and as a final culmination of the students’ many talents and hard work, many members believe that the yearly event is a defining aspect of the club.

“I think Asian Night is very important because it provides motivation and is a culmination of all the hard work everyone put into rehearsals,” said Angela Chang, a junior and an act leader of the Asian Cultural Club. 

Transferring the performance to a virtual platform, however, does come hand in hand with significant changes. Firstly, act practices will now be held over Zoom, according to junior and club officer Victoria Guan.

“Some have to do in-person practice, which is difficult,” Guan said. “There are also two options to record the event: recording outside in an open space, socially distanced and wearing masks if possible or, for extra safety precautions, a heavily edited video in which people can individually film at home. It’s going to be a long video movie that can hopefully be live-streamed. It won’t be in person unless New York State deems it safe and everyone is willing to.”

Unfortunately, these new challenges have caused some students to worry.

“Teaching and practicing dances through Zoom will be a lot harder, especially going over formations,” Chang said.

“The most challenging part is that we don’t see each other in school and we cannot work together as we usually did in the past,” said Mrs. Wu, the club’s advisor. “The traditional way of performing is not suitable anymore, so we need to find another way to do our performance.”

Even with their less-than-ideal situation, the club demonstrates that it is ready to tackle the challenge and provides a positive outlook on the upcoming event. 

​”The changes are challenging, but I believe this year’s Asian Night will be great since all the club members are working very hard to make it happen,” Mrs. Wu said. “We will have a successful Asian Culture Night that is also very unique.”