The Hills Are Alive: Performing Arts and Heritage on the Hilltop
By Tuo Liu, Modern Languages teacher, Middle School DEI Coordinator, Hackley School
My experiences with art began at a surprisingly young age. While I was just a baby, my mom read to me fables by La Fontaine, a famous 17th-century French poet, as well as poems of the Tang dynasty, considered by some to be the Golden Age of Chinese poetry. As a Chinese woman who majored in French, my mom clearly saw those two texts as embodying specific facets of her identity — facets that she deliberately wished to imprint on a very young me.
While I have no real recollection of these poetry readings, I vividly remember one specific experience with art. When I was around 9 or 10 years old, my grandpa came to visit me in Montreal, the only time I ever saw him outside of China, and we gathered around our television and watched The Sound of Music together. It was his idea, and I will probably never know why this stern but quirky older Chinese man liked this movie so much. I do know that I was entranced by the scenes of singing and dancing. The film would turn out to have quite an impact on my life, as even now, well into my thirties, I still consider this classic my all-time favorite movie. On good days, I like to REALLY flatter myself by thinking of myself as a modern-day Maria on the Hackley hills, while on rougher days, I hope to channel just a tiny bit of Maria’s grace and flair.
Now that I can revisit this movie as an adult, I see that the moments of song and dance were much more meaningful than what I had grasped as a child. Whether it was the Ländler dance that Maria and the Captain performed, the song Edelweiss, or the last and so emotional So Long, Farewell right before the family fled Nazi-occupied Austria, this art told the story of people proud of their identities, their heritage, and their lived experiences. The film is filled with these performances that affirm their pride in being Austrian, and, though the story is in many ways specific and bound by space and time, it remains so accessible and powerfully universal.
It is with this profound appreciation of art’s power to unite, tell stories, and affirm our heritage, that I think of all the wonderful artistic guests at Hackley this year and before. Through our diversity, equity, and inclusion programming, we welcomed talented artists who sang, danced, played instruments, performed theater, recited poems, and, through their performances, told their stories of heritage. An especially memorable moment for me last year was the workshop Growing Up Jazz with Ms. Andromeda Turre. From Duke Ellington to Esperanza Spalding, the singing griots of Western Africa to the blues of the Mississippi delta, Turre brilliantly brought to life the stories of America and its people by tracing the history of jazz — a history of joy, injustice, grit, and grace. Though I had grown up with nearly zero exposure to jazz, the workshop and the stories I heard made jazz meaningful to me and made me curious to reflect and learn more.
This year, we have been graced with the presence of numerous artistic guests, including the Folklore Urbano musical collective; an indigenous dance group, In Nelly Teotl, In Ollin Teotl (La Santa Cruz del Caminante); the Shades of Yale a cappella group; and a Chinese mask-changing opera performer. Students rocked to contemporary Latin American rhythms, listened transfixed as the indigenous dancers talked about the connection to the earth during a special ceremony, clapped for some classic tunes by Lauryn Hill and Silk Sonic, and cheered for the seemingly effortless mask changes. Gathered in one space, I felt deeply connected to the sense of community, the collective oohs and aahs reflecting a powerfully shared sensory and cultural experience. The chatter of students and adults alike as we departed the performances demonstrated a sense that something meaningful had just transpired.
Indeed, what makes these performances so powerful is the uniquely specific experiences and stories they tell. Whether they are anchored in the distinct beats of the Colombian cumbia, the traditions of the Aztecs, the experience of the African diaspora, or a regional Chinese opera, these creative endeavors bring to light the heritage of members of our community in ways that eliminate barriers to understanding. Art creates a bridge between individuals — as one individual tells a story, we can see ourselves connected both to the story and to the storyteller. The pursuit of beauty and joy is accessible to all of us, regardless of our age, beliefs, identities, and experiences. And just like the Growing Up Jazz workshop made me feel that something previously unfamiliar to me was meaningful, these performances create the space for our students to feel the significance of a cultural heritage that might not be theirs but might be that of their friends, peers, and teachers.
Art allows us to better understand each other’s experiences, not just within the Hackley community but in a global context. Art not only embodies the Hackley ethos of learning from different perspectives, but also challenges us to take risks — another key Hackley tenet. Creativity demands risk-taking, and the creation of art creates a space where we can imagine different identities and embrace diverse experiences.
I firmly believe in art’s power to bring us together and allow us to explore who we are. As I look back on the Lunar New Year assembly performances on my way to teach my French class, I think once again of my mom reading French fables and Chinese poems to baby me. Now that I am a Chinese and French teacher, it certainly feels like things have come full circle (truly some magical powers on my mom’s part!). And I am grateful for those hours I spent with my grandpa in front of the television experiencing a film that started me on the path of loving art in all its forms — it has led me to this moment.
Tuo Liu has been a member of the Hackley faculty since 2018. He has taught both French and Chinese in the Modern Languages Department in both the Middle and Upper Schools. He also proudly runs the Geography and Spelling Bee in the Middle School, as he is a huge fan of both endeavors.
