After too long a hiatus due to travel and event restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Newtown-based World Heritage Cultural Center is returning to the spotlight with what promises to be a rich, colorful, dance and music-infused showcase on stage at Edmond Town Hall October 1.

The globally-connected nonprofit empowers and promotes diverse and unique cultures from around the world, creating a global village to foster tolerance, appreciation, and unity, according to its founder and Sandy Hook resident Sattie Persaud. She told The Newtown Bee that the event is much more than just having audience members file in to watch a show, and then going back to their lives.

She hopes to help make a lasting impression with each audience member, exposing and enlightening them to how much they don’t know about neighboring world cultures, and how incredible it is to experience and embrace them through visual and musical storytelling. The first of the local nonprofit’s events to be hosted in Newtown, Persaud also stressed how this “World of Colors Concert” will reinforce her organization’s mission promoting diversity.

“We understand that cultural identity bolsters diversity, and thus believe acceptance and tolerance are promoted by our creation of a common ground where the creative arts are a powerful tool used to tell great stories of traditions,” according to WHCC's website.

Residents and visitors interested in the full-immersion experience Persaud and the WHCC hope to share are invited to start their evening early, as a red carpet pre-show celebration kicks off at 3 pm. Following that, a roster of performers hits the Edmond Town Hall Theatre stage from 5:30 to 8:30 pm, and is followed by a VIP gala from 8:30 to 10:30 pm.

Tickets for the red carpet, concert, and gala — with refreshments and food by Dodgingtown Market & Deli, and Cash Bar — are $75; under 16 and seniors $55. Veterans, public sector workers, police, local ambulance volunteers, teachers, and firefighters all receive the discount, as well.

Tickets are available at Dodgingtown Market, which is also owned and operated by Persaud and her family, and tickets can be purchased at the door while they last. All proceeds go to help the artists’ groups with travel costs.

According to Persaud, her organization has produced nearly 250 concerts to date, many of which were featured entertainment at a number of Travel & Adventure shows across 16 states.

Since establishing the WHCC in 2009, Persaud has maintained that “cultural diversity is the glue that holds humanity together, and it’s as important as biodiversity is to nature.”

“My organization is not a hobby, but an extension of who I am and the people who have helped me to find my voice,” she added. “I give gratitude every day by giving back, and this is my drive.”

After helping support her family selling candy and cigarettes in front of her family home in Suriname after school between the ages of 7 and 11, Persaud came to the US to fulfill an arranged marriage situation that only lasted a short time.

“Still a teen, I got an opportunity to become my mom’s cousin’s nanny, and holding two additional part-time jobs, I put myself through college,” Persaud explained. After taking additional training in accounting, she entered the corporate world and now works full-time as senior foreign exchange manger at Corporate Treasury in OTIS Elevator.

Concert Lineup

The October 1 “World Of Colors Concert” is being hosted by actress, producer and educator Isabella Hofmann (Second City, Burlesque, Homicide: Life on the Street, The Flash), who will be flying in from Los Angeles for the evening. Among the scheduled performers representing 21 countries in song and dance, with elaborate costuming and cultural garb are:

Aubre Hill, a friend and supporter of WHCC since 2009, who is an international dance artist, choreographer, educator, and event producer for large ensembles across the United States, Egypt, Morocco, Europe, China, Taiwan, and Japan;

Tradiciones Bolivianas, a dynamic group from Washington, D.C., traveling to Connecticut to showcase the beauty of Bolivia through folklore, dance, and music;

The Daynomies including Baby Opie representing Native Americans. Persaud says 5-year-old Baby Opie has over 63,000 followers on Instagram who have clicked on to view as he performs with his parents and siblings;

Anindita Nanda, performing the Odissi dance, one of eight classical dance forms to originate from India that is thought to be one of the oldest surviving ritual dance forms in existence, a spiritual expression of devotion to a higher being, Persaud said;

Manuel Trillo, a Global Ambassador of Spain with WHCC since 2018 and a dedicated master in Latin performing arts who has been seen on Dancing with the Stars representing Spain and Argentina;

Svet, an internationally recognized one-of-a-kind talent recently featured on America’s Got Talent, the Bulgarian electro violinist and friend of WHCC since 2009 merges his talent on the violin with contemporary musical styles;

Ensemble Barynya, founded in 1991, this ensemble shares folklore traditions through the arts representing Jewish, Ukraine, Moldavian and Russian cultures; and

Kaiholunuie, trained in both Kahiko (the ancient and original form of hula) and the more modern auana, the multicultural group of ladies, young people, and keiki represents Polynesia and Hawaii.

“This event is about empowering our community with the noble mission we have at World Heritage Cultural Center,” Persaud said, “to invite people to be part of an important legacy in the making for our future generations.”

Learn more by visiting mywhcc.org or the organization’s social network sites, or contact WHCC at info@mywhcc.org or 203-489-0963.