Yeong Su Ann is one of four Arts Ambassadors that were critical in the development and execution of the HERE! Arts Carnival in 2019. At CFA, Arts Ambassadors follow a structured program where they contribute to major events, solve problems as they arise and build adaptable skills that make the arts shine on campus.

Here’s Su Ann’s take on the event.

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The stirring melodies of an orchestra, the fluid movements of dancers to thrumming beats from the speakers, the murmur and laughter from the crowds … As I watch and listen from my post at my booth on the second floor of the Stephen Riady Centre, I’m struck by a strong sense of relief and satisfaction: that something I had worked on had brought people so much joy.

At the very beginning, conceptualising the theme for the Carnival with the other Arts Ambassadors, I could not have pictured how it eventually manifested. We began on a more theoretical basis. As a group of students with a strong passion for the arts, we had to reflect on our own experiences with the arts and find what key points we resonated with. From there, we had to narrow down a few common points, from which we would brainstorm and do research.

I chose to look up words and phrases associated with my key idea (‘experiences and living in the moment’). This resulted in my preliminary theme, ‘One Moment Please’, which the other ambassadors immediately resonated with when I brought it up at our meeting. While it had the connotations of waiting for something, it also had the feeling of people giving and getting moments. When we brought this concept up for further discussion, it did get changed to ‘My Moment HERE!’ after much debate. Although I did feel some disappointment,  I understood that the connotations of waiting were too strong, and this new tagline was a little more relatable for the student community.

After this, we moved on into discussions on the actual programming aspects of the carnival. We had decided to tie the concept of ‘experiences and moments’ very tightly to our programmes, as we felt that this would make them more appealing to students. Hence, we attempted to introduce elements of interactivity into the programmes. For instance, instead of just having the orchestras perform their usual range of pieces, we decided to introduce a poll before the performance, so as to make the audience feel more engaged.

This worked!

On casual feedback, there were people who were genuinely disappointed their choice wasn’t played. This was honestly gratifying to see, as it meant that people were engaged in what they were watching.

At the activities I oversaw, the Shall We Dance workshops and the Dance the Night Away stage, I was glad to see enthusiastic responses. I had more walk-ins than I had expected, and could hear fervent applause for every single dance item. It had been a little challenging working with the groups and the Production Stage Manager to put my activities together. There were delays in communication, and even a point where one of the groups didn’t receive a critical email. These were, in the end, resolvable issues, and I was relieved that on the night itself, things went smoothly.

At points it was disappointing to have some ideas dropped, but this was understandable, as it was necessary to tighten the programmes and allow the carnival to appeal to more students. On hindsight, even if my theme/tagline/slogan were not taken wholesale, it was satisfying to see it as the root for many of the programmes anyway – that the concept was still the underlying core of the carnival.

In the end, it was a deeply satisfying to be able to watch our ideas manifest into experiences that so many people enjoyed. I think this is something the other Ambassadors felt as well. While we were basically swept off our feet with how busy we were on the night itself, seeing the smiles on the faces of people enjoying themselves at the event was something that was very meaningful to us. On a more personal level, this gave me the opportunity to showcase  what I love most about the arts: that it gives people the chance to experience something a little outside the ordinary, even just for a moment. I think we managed to do just that.