Join the DIA and their auxiliary, the Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures, in celebrating Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Kicking off a month-long celebration is the return of our ensemble Celebration Show, featuring community groups and professional artists sharing traditional and contemporary dance, musical performances and more from a variety of cultures. 

This year’s celebration show will share the journey into Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Polynesian, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese cultures through music, dance, and cultural display.  

The Celebration Show will open with special guest speakers, to honor Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month’s importance to the community. 

Director’s Note: America is created by people from different parts of the world. We came here bringing the threads of our culture that have been woven into the fabric of our great country, the American dream. 

Our country’s fabric is rich with color, texture, contrast, and aesthetics. Migrating to America creates a new section of our tapestry, the rich history of our ancestral thread is woven into our evolving culture. Sometimes the migration is not measured in miles but in transition of thought, from our old traditions to the ways of our new land. Our ancestor’s influences have laid a path to the present and technologies have made history more accessible, allowing us to add more depth to our rich fabric of life. 

With 152 years of Asian Americans in Michigan, we can use our resources to spread the arts as a universal language, expressing ourselves in a global community, showing our sense of beauty, and our challenges. 

Performance in Rivera Court at 2 p.m. 

• The Scent of Summer | Performed by ArtLab J, Choreographed by Joori Jung 
• Dancing in Peach Blossom Spring | Performed by J.Z. Dance Studio, Choreographed by Joanne Zheng
• Drum Doll | Performed by J.Z. Dance Studio, Choreographed by Joanne Zheng
• Peace, Love, K-POP | Performed by ArtLab J K-POP Dance Team, Choreographed by Elizabeth Kalesavich
• 15 Xyoo (15 Years) | Performed by Ntxhais Tshiab Ci, Choreographed by Brea Yang
• Co Tam Ngay Nay (The Modern Cinderella) | Performed by Vietnamese American Association of Michigan Dance Team, Choreographed by Jacky Duong 
• Rhythm and Tales of Bangladesh | Performance by Michigan Kalibari Nrityangan, Choreographed by Mohua Das Sarkar 
• Resonance | Performed by Root Dance Company, Choreographed by Kyunghwa Hong and Kwangmin Kim 
• Kannada Song | Performed by Shanti World Music, Choreographed by Sunitha Ananthaswamy 
• Godaiko, the Great Lakes | Performed by Sakura Japanese Instrumental Group & Great Lakes Taiko Center: Godaiko Drummers, Choreographed by Kyoko Johnson, Tomoko Arai and Rieko Bowman 
• Awake the Lions | Performed by Detroit Lion Dance Association (Vietnamese), Choreographed by Anthony Hoang 

Cultural Displays in Great Hall from 10 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. 

• Kyoko Fujii | Japanese Calligraphy and Painting 
• Rhona Lee | Chinese Calligraphy and Painting 
• Julius Gyucheon Hwang and Benjamin Byungjoon Kim | Korean Calligraphy and Painting 
• Asian Dolls | Contributed by International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit 
  • Additional objects from Bengali, Burmese, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Indonesian, Polynesian, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and more cultures. 
• Samples of Indian Tea and Thai desserts will also be shared. 

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage American Month programs are developed in partnership with the DIA’s auxiliary group Friends of Asian Arts and Cultures (FAAC) & Global Federation of Chinese Business Women Midwest USA Chapter (GFCBW-Midwest) with support from Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission (MAPAAC) and International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit (IIMD). 

Performance in the DIA’s Rivera Court. Capacity is limited. Seating begins 1:30 p.m. 

Cultural displays will be on view in Great Hall from 10:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.