Ela Razon

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A Journey of 25 Years

Retrospective: Pandemic Days

In October 2020, my high school batch mates and I were set to make our way home to celebrate our 25th high school reunion and as the Silver Jubilarians, host the annual Velada, a long held tradition of Assumption College in the Philippines, our Alma Mater.

The lockdown had other plans.  And so it came to be… our High School Batch ’95 proceeded to host the annual tradition, for the first time in AC history, online.

Sharing this piece that I contributed to our Batch’s tapestry.

When Rina asked me if I would dance to our batch’s song - the song we sang at our graduation 25 years ago, my first thought was oh my, they are serious. Because it had been a running joke that we would dance flamenco at our Velada 🤣 For those who are not familiar with flamenco, the music and dance is steeped in centuries of tradition, an amalgamation of influences that the gypsies brought to Andalucia, the belly of flamenco. It sounds very different from our batch’s song ☺️

Well, I listened to the song and the dance came. So here it is, sharing it with you, 25 years older than when we first sang “Our Dowry”, beautifully written by Rina Marquez.

We may be in different corners of the world but for those moments I was dancing and working on the song, I felt every batch sister with me. I love you, my sisters! What a wonderful celebration it was. Bravo to our Batch 95 team who made the first online Velada in AC history happen. Congratulations to all of us! 🥳🥳🥳