The Schuster Theatre hosted a vast variety of cultural dances underneath its roof Friday evening.

As a sold-out event, the Multicultural Dance Show was quite anticipated, and the performers did not disappoint.

The night of dance opened up with a demonstration of Indian Classical Dances, featuring Shruthi Kondai and Gannon’s very own  Shreelina Ghosh, Ph.D., assistant professor in the English department and Anjali Sahay, Ph.D. associate professor and program director of political science.

Each of the classical Indian dancers wore her unique attire, ankle bells, makeup to match their chosen aesthetic and red hand and feet alta dye.

This made for a unique immersion into Indian culture, and although an ancient practice, it was brought into the modern world so beautifully.

Next was the culturally social Irish Ceili dance performed by students from Long’s School of Dance. This dance’s celtic dresses and the dancer’s curly hairstyle all aided in the cultural celebration of Ireland’s independence and de-anglicization.

Chinese singer Sophie Tan provided a break from the dancing with her vocal performance of two songs. The goal of this musical performance was to provide insight into the beauty of Chinese romantic music. Tan translated one of her songs for the audience, saying it meant, “your smile is as sweet as honey like flowers bloom in the spring breeze.” The vocals and the instrumentals were equally as beautiful as the song’s lyrics.

Following this vocal act was a hip-hop performance from students at Erie Dance Theater who are a part of the Bad Boy Entertainment group. These school-age students performed modern hip-hop moves and celebrated the Black culture of Erie through their demonstration. The students shouted and cheered for one another, displaying their sibling-like support for one another.

They announced Friday that their mission is to transform lives through movement and rhythms, discipline and fun. This dance program is a part of the Martin Luther King Center of Erie.

Demonstrating Korean tradition, Park’s Taekwondo Academy brought a lively and intense martial arts performance to the Multicultural Dance Show.

According to the program, taekwondo is a traditional martial art from South Korea, especially known for its flying high kicks. The martial arts students certainly brought that skill to life, even at one point showcasing a male student kicking an apple off a sword, which certainly caught the audience’s attention.

These dynamic movements and acrobatics allow for taekwondo student’s expression through these physical demonstrations.

The next performance of the night was my favorite: the Afro dance performed by Nooria Hassan, Helena Kanku, Kumba Fayla, Niyo Nizama and Sam Kakulu, who were all draped in their African country’s flags, representing their culture of origin.

Through dance, these performers are able to celebrate the cultural similarities and differences of their different African nations.

Though an unfamiliar style to me, I was able to appreciate themodernity of this culture and envision it playing out in a dance party amongst people of the college age, my age, in these respective African countries.

This dance included a lot of hip motions, which was a perfect lead into the Egyptian belly dancing from Erie Dance Theater performer Jan Manucci.

The eldest of the performers, Manucci was able to perform two demonstrations of Egyptian belly dance in unison with the grace and popularity of the artform that  has spread worldwide. The dance is characterized by the stunning response of every muscle of the body in relation to the beats of the drum and the rhythm of the music.

Manucci executed this wonderfully, and the movement of the different muscle groups was evident through the clatter of the coins on the dancing costume.

Closing the evening of dance, Debbie DeAngelo and Nick Iacobucci from Erie Ballroom Dance performed the Cuban cha-cha to the tune of Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.”

Following their performance, the Multicultural Dance Show was brought to a close by an interactive mini-class on how to dance the cha-cha, cultures intersecting with partners young and old from the various dance groups.

ALI SMITH

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