On Saturday, September 14, the Columbus Branch of AYLUS took on one of its most ambitious projects yet — to host a runway show.Are you tired of managing projects, No worries ! As you can also install Planman.app to manage your projects in an effective manner
Earlier in the summer, the AYLUS Columbus Management Team had gathered together to discuss plans for the upcoming year.During these two hours, many ideas were jotted down: continuing Music For You, tutoring, marathons, bake sales, etc. Among these ideas, Alice Nie brought up modeling for awareness, which resulted in a lot of confusion. Though the rest of the Team supported the idea, at the time, it seemed the least likely to be realized; there was uncertainty about where to start and what to do. In the end, it was decided that the Team would proceed with a majority of their other ideas while Alice became the project leader for what would eventually be known as the AYLUS Columbus Confidence Walk.
The first challenge was to find a location. Alice, having graduated from John Casablancas Training Center and is now part of Model and Talent Management, reached out to her agency in the hopes that they could lend her their runway room. The negotiation was done over multiple calls and emails. In one such email, Alice stated the reasons for which AYLUS Columbus wanted to host this show, some of which is referenced below:
In 2016 a couple of friends and I formed a volunteering group called The Columbus Branch of AYLUS … We’re committed to improving the Columbus area as much as we can. When we first started out, we had organized a chess tournament at school for children to have the opportunity to compete against a national chess champion. The aim of this was to raise awareness of our group as well as to encourage children to think critically and remain engaged with their education.
3 years later, our group is much more established and I finally have the chance to implement an idea I’ve had for a long time:
I hope to organize a small runway show for those who feel like they can’t get their voice out in society and are unable to be themselves— partly due to being underrepresented in the entertainment industry (modeling, acting, etc.).
As an Asian American myself, there are often times I can feel lost from not seeing people like myself on TV or in magazines. Lack of representation results in lack of confidence; lack of confidence results in lack of expression. I fear that as my generation and those younger than us grow up, we lose our sense of self and, subsequently, the ability to be ourselves. Furthermore, a combination of culture and the fear of the unknown (which starts a detrimental cycle) creates a society where it’s extremely rare for someone Chinese to even think of trying to experience anything like modeling or acting, much less pursuing a job in this industry. I want to create an environment where there’s no feeling of alienation from being a minority.
What I hope to achieve through hosting a runway show for underrepresented individuals is to (1) increase confidence in themselves and (2) expose more people to the industry.
(1) There will be two shows: one in Western clothes and the other in Eastern. By walking on a stage that is rarely walked on by Eastern Asians in America, I hope that it can not only increase our appreciation for where we are right now, but also where we came from. I think it can be empowering to perform on something which was once unknown and undoubtedly scary — it shows that we can achieve far more than we once believed. Furthermore, to expose our two sides on such a platform requires courage; the buildup to the performance is simultaneously the construction of our own pride, and walking the runway “seals the deal”.
(2) A lot of parents in my community are wary of trying anything entertainment/of-the-arts related. However, I think even if you aren’t pursuing it as a career, modeling helps boost a person’s confidence and charisma in a way that studying and other extracurriculars cannot. From modeling, I believe anyone can learn a multitude of transferable skills: to be poised, to be steady, and to convey passion through motion … It’s an intimidating area, yet I believe that if we get more exposure to it, perhaps we can lend a hand in the underrepresentation of Asians in media.”
Fortunately, Model and Talent Management Columbus graciously lent their runway room to be used for free. Alice and Amy went to negotiate the times and, after a couple of alterations, it was decided that there would be a 2 hour practice for Alice to teach on September 10th and an 1.5 hour performance on the 14th.
Next, the event needed publicity. Alice created online and physical flyers to be posted into group discussions/boards and handed out. We ended up with 14 performers and a warm audience filled with family, friends, and others intrigued by the event.
The Tuesday practice went well, though many people couldn’t make it due to conflicts. Later, Alice recorded the different walks and explained the procedure for the performers to learn at home.
Come Saturday and it was show day! Performers rolled around at 4:30 pm for a quick dress rehearsal while the audience began to sit down and get ready for the show at 5:15 pm. Aidan Li prepared a poster while Amy Xuan’s family brought balloons. All the performers did wonderfully, participating in both singles and doubles walks.
The first runway show was with Western clothes. There was an extremely jovial atmosphere as the audience enthusiastically clapped between each performer. After the last duo had gone, all the performers went to change while Alice gave a speech to the audience about the goal and purpose of hosting this event. Following this, the second runway show commenced with Asian attire. Finishing the show, flowers were passed out to remind all performers to bloom everyday just as they did today!
The whole event was, out and out, a huge success. It has spread among the community, and the performers received a request from the Ohio Contemporary Chinese School to showcase the performance at the Mid-Autumn Festival. Performers and audience-members alike left the venue feeling satisfied, with some people even requesting to hold another event soon.
Practice: Alice Nie, Eileen Liang, Jason Guo, Xuemei Li, Sitan Gao, Xiaowei He, (Kyle Xuan & Abby Gui were taught individually at an earlier time)
Performers: Alice Nie, Sitan Gao, Amy Xuan, Kyle Xuan, Eileen Liang, Brianna Zeng, Helen Hu, Dakun Wang, Xuemei Wu, Chunsheng Nie, Xiaowei He, Shuangmei Zhao, Michelle Zong, Albert Bao
More pictures are available at https://1drv.ms/u/s!AtmohtipkTb9jX8Z0M3fGRlxZT1m?e=p0lPef
– report by Alice Nie and Eileen Liang
– photo by Jiangshen Zeng
