![A stage in front of a lit-up building houses musical instruments and decor as a student performs to an audience at dusk.]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1686340222/emmawillardorg/yjyant7q6w4epjwlpkm4/Apollo2023onthelawn.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1686340222/emmawillardorg/yjyant7q6w4epjwlpkm4/Apollo2023onthelawn.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1686340222/emmawillardorg/yjyant7q6w4epjwlpkm4/Apollo2023onthelawn.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1686340222/emmawillardorg/yjyant7q6w4epjwlpkm4/Apollo2023onthelawn.jpg","width":960}])
Last Friday, Apollo, the annual talent show inspired by the Apollo Theatre held festival-style on the inner campus, took place on the lawn outside Dietel Library. Put together and pulled off by the Black Latinx Student Union (BLSU), the event is a chance for members of the community to show off their talents, share food, and enjoy a spring evening on the inner campus.
Complete with decorations, a theme (this year posters and fliers donned the hallways around campus reminding attendees of this year’s theme: pink!), and a delicious spread of food specially offered by the group and community members, Apollo is certainly one of the favorite traditions at Emma Willard School.
BLSU Co-Heads Noura C.'23 and Trinity M.' 23 hosting this year's celebrations,
introducing acts and setting the mood for the talent-filled evening!
This year, the festivities moved to the lawn just outside of Dietel Library (previously, it had been held in front of the chapel steps but this year construction sees that location otherwise occupied). Attendees were encouraged to wear pink, sit on blankets, and enjoy the show. Over 30 acts sang and danced to tumultuous applause and the gentle glow of string lights and phone screens.
Christine Gilmore and daughter Miko make an entrance for their performance at Apollo!
Director of College Counseling Ashley Bennet's son Austin makes his debut on the Apollo stage!
Performances of all kinds are welcome at Apollo, sometimes even including surprise entrances and incredible acts from some of the youngest members of Emma families, and the support for every single act is palpable across the lawn.
In an installment of our One of 360 series, Crystal S. ’23 noted that Apollo is among her favorite events on campus:
“One of my favorite Emma traditions has to be APOLLO. It is an event hosted by BLSU, a club that I have been a member of since my freshman year, where people can show off their talents. Last year was the first Apollo where we were served soul food, and it was the closest thing to my mom’s cooking that I have had while on campus. Of the three Apollos I’ve been to so far, I, along with my friend, have performed at two of them with the theme of songs from our childhood shows and movies.”
Now in its third year of festival-style, Apollo is a beloved event on campus that has truly become an Emma tradition not only for the contagious joy and enthusiasm that comes with encouraging the community to perform, but for the sense of belonging and community that BLSU encourages throughout the event.
The view of the stage, aglow throughout the night, of Apollo 2023.
Thank you BLSU for all your work making it a memorable night!
Check out photos from this year’s Apollo on SmugMug!
Find more interesting stories about Emma Willard School on our Newsroom page.