A Celebration of Creativity: All Arts Night

          This past Saturday, April 6, Lawrenceville hosted its annual All Arts Night, which showcased music, dance, poetry readings, and crafting workshops. The event, composed of eight unique performances, began  with Churan Xu ’25 reading poems by Jenny Xie and ending with Gavin Yoon’s ’25 rap showcase. 

          “It was a true celebration of arts and artists,” commented Michelle Zhang ’25, who danced to Hozier’s “Talk” at the event. In fact, Zhang decided on her music and choreography just an hour before her performance. “I went to [Clark Music Center] and improvised to multiple songs until I found a song that I resonated with,” she elaborated on her preparation process: “Hozier’s songs, for example, are always rhythmically varied, which makes them more suitable for dance performances.” Zhang has always described performing as one of her “greatest passions.” Specifically, she loves how performing in front of a “supportive crowd” enhances her ability to choreograph and dance. “My style has progressed since my last performance,” she added, “it used to be a lot softer.” Even though the turn-up was lower than last year due to the event’s timing, Zhang was still grateful for the community formed by All Arts Night. “Everyone comes together to enjoy, applaud, and recognize the dedication of each other and ourselves,” she highlighted. Other than her own performance, Zhang was also a huge fan of Arya Sreedhar’s ’24 rendition of Sophia Carlson’s “Jokes on Me.” “It wasn’t just her incredible singing,” Zhang shared, “I really admire her courage to say, ‘Can I start again.’” Ultimately, “the point of art isn’t to be perfect every single time but rather to constantly improve,” she explained. To her, Sreedhar’s courage to advocate for herself and perform at her best was a testament to this statement.

          Arisa Okamura ’25, who attended the event, loved not only the performance but also the accompanying activities. “The bracelet-making workshop offered me an experience to reconnect with my friends,” she recalled. Contrary to the bustling environment usually found at school, All Arts Night was an event where students could relax and be at ease. “The food, particularly the tarts and macarons, were also really delicious,” Okamura noted. In terms of the performances, she especially enjoyed Zhang’s dance, which “brought out suppressed emotions from the audience,” Voicemale’s a cappella, which “shared joy with the community,” and Angel Xin’s ’26 poetry reading, which “brought [her] a different type of joy to reading poetry.” Okamura stressed the significance of Voicemale’s performance and how it destigmatized men in the performing arts. “[Performing Arts] is valued much less in the Circle compared to the Crescent,” she observed.

           In order to elevate the event in the future, Okamura suggests increasing the scale of All Arts Night. She remarked that “it would be a lot more fun if more people showed up.” Her participation in the School’s orchestra has shown her that a large turnout can positively influence student performers. “It’s not a lot of work to attend an event,” she reflected, “but events where the community gets together are so much better.” Nevertheless, Okamura described All Arts Night as “uplifting” and “a huge success, where people communicated arts rather than spectated it.”