In keeping with multicultural, multiethnic fabric of Singapore, GIIS students have continued to participate in cultural interactions with their peers from Singapore schools. During different occasions, GIIS students perform cultural programmes at other schools and vice-versa. The interactions include presentations on the cultural front.

In 2012, the International Friendship Day brought GIIS East Coast Campus students an exciting opportunity to celebrate the day with new friends at Singapore’s CHIJ Katong Primary School on April13. Five students from GIIS East Coast Campus – Sudharshini Nanthakumar, Renuka Ramanathan, Ramita Jawahar, Anakha Biju and Anushka Puri – represented GIIS East Coast campus with an enthralling Indian Classical ‘Jugal Bandi’, a dance performance in Indian classical style that featured a duet of two different dance styles Bharatanatyam and Kathak. Also present at the event was the New Zealand Ambassador His Excellency Mr Peter Hamilton and CHIJ teachers, staff and children. GIIS East Coast Campus Principal, Ms Madhu Khanna was also present at the event. His Excellency, Mr Hamilton, while addressing the audience, recollected a dance performance by renowned Indian danseuse Ms Shobana, including her intricate footwork, during his visit to Chennai to meet the former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. He expressed his appreciation for the traditional Indian dance. This made us realise how much people the world over appreciate Indian dances and we felt very proud of our heritage.

Sudharshini Nanthakumar, one of the GIIS student team members from Class 9 gushed excitedly, “To perform at CHIJ Katong Primary School was a truly interesting experience for us, as we not only got an opportunity to dance, but also interact with the students and learnt more about their culture. They shared with us details of their own co curricular activities and performing arts. During our interaction session, we showed them our traditional dance poses and surprisingly they learnt faster than we expected! We look forward to interactions such as this one in the future.”