Arts Night Main Showcase

The main showcase on 29 March featured eleven performances across theatre, band, acapella, and dance. The night kicked off with a theatre act, and was followed by performances by RC4’s very own performing arts interest groups. From 4 band items performed by RC4ME (RC4 Musical Expression), the RC4 musical band interest group, to 2 a cappella sets by Orc4pella (RC4 A cappella), the audience was treated to a series of sets, from energetic band pieces that livened up the mood to vocal harmonies that tugged the heartstrings of those in the audience. The night concluded with 3 dance items presented by R4D (RC4 Dance), featuring various genres from street jazz to hip hop.

Arts Night as a platform for growth

For Justin Wong (Year 3), a band performer from RC4ME, the night marked a personal first. "Arts Night was my first legitimate performance," he said, "and has sparked me to want to perform more in the future."

What Justin shared perfectly captures the purpose of Arts Night -- giving people a reason to try something they otherwise wouldn't. Interest groups in RC4 are open to residents of all skill levels, and Arts Night reflects that same spirit.

Ridley had not stepped on stage for over 6 years before his stint as a theatre performer in last year’s Arts Night. He came back this year wearing multiple hats not just as a performer, but also the Theatre@RC4 IG Head, and the Creatives Director. He took on the full weight of producing and directing a theatre piece for the very first time. "I was always a performer who followed directions from my Theatre Instructors," he said. "Now I was the one who writes the script, plans the blocking for each actor and designs the lighting, sound and set."

For Tan Jia Yi Denise (Year 2), Arts Night was the platform she needed to try her hand at choreographing her own dance item. As head of R4D, though she had taught dance classes before, she had never led a full performance piece from scratch. "My dance vocabulary is very limited," she admitted, "and I was worried I would just be copying choreos from YouTube." What carried her through was leaning on the people around her, from her dancers who were patient, to her friends who helped her work through creative blocks. "I only got through this because of the people in my item," she said. To her, Arts Night is a “stepping stone to my future with dance as it made me realie that I can achieve what I thought impossible and unreachable.”

Beyond the performers

The growth was not limited to the stage. For many in the organising committee, Arts Night 2026 was also a first. Most of the main committee came from the CSC Clubsoc Committee without prior experience in planning a large-scale arts production.

"I think the most challenging part of Arts Night was the lack of experience of the committee," said Ong Choon Heng (Year 2), the Project Director. "Even though it was quite difficult, I am very proud of my committee and the challenges we overcame."

Balakrishnan Shrikkanth (Year 1) spent years as a performer on stage. This year, curious about what life behind the scenes looked like, she joined Arts Night as the Vice Project Director. She learnt that running a show demanded a different set of skills: “There is so much happening behind the scenes that the audience never sees, and a lot of it depends on timing, coordination, and being able to think on the spot when things do not go according to plan,” she said. "Those situations taught me how important it is to stay calm and adapt quickly." Personally, Arts Night was a journey of growth for her, as she reflected that she became better at facilitating and communicating more effectively.

Despite the challenges faced along the way, the committee’s months of efforts paid off as they saw the performance come to live. Indeed, for Choon Heng, “Arts Night aims to celebrate the efforts of the various IGs and the performers that signed up, which I believe is everyone's motivation in helping out to make the event a success.”