Hundreds of students packed into Cohen auditorium for the 19th annual Parade of Nations fashion and talent extravaganza this weekend, taking a world tour without leaving their seats. The annual performance, put on by the International Club (I-Club) and International Center, featured a night of signing, dancing, acting, and fun presented by various Tufts culture clubs and organizations.
MC Kareem Idriss, who urged the crowd to "take home with you the feeling of cultural unity," entertained the crowd with jokes and quizzed the audience on geography between three acts that featured poetry, a skit, singing, dancing, a fashion show, marital arts, and the annual presentation of the Oliver Chapman award. The energetic audience voiced their support when representatives of their cultural groups or friends were on stage.
Among the biggest hits of the night were the African Student Organization's dance moves, which brought whistles and shrieks from women in the audience when eight-year-old Abeeku Barrow, the cousin of a Tufts Alum, joined the dancers and strutted his stuff for the last few minutes. A Tae Kwon Do sequence in which three men and one woman put their martial arts techniques to a music routine, breaking wooden boards and leaping high in the air, was also well-received.
Sophomore Brian Johnson said that he came to the Parade especially to see the Tae Kwon Do performance. "It was really very good," he said. "The kata sequences they incorporated in their dance movements were impressive."
Even when tape for the Puerto Rican Saborealo dance malfunctioned, and the dancers needed to start over, the audience was still encouraging, with a long round of applause and a rousing "S?!" when Idriss asked the crowd whether they had enjoyed the performance.
Sophomore Jessica Schauer especially enjoyed the singing of the South African National anthem by the a cappella group Essence. "It was something new - you don't usually hear the national anthems of other countries," Schauer said.
Freshman Emily Rufo's favorite performance was the opening dance by members of the I-Club.
"The dance gave me an opportunity to see my roommate and other members of the I-Club perform," Rufo said. "It's amazing to see her and the other dancers in action; now I know what they have been working for"
Tufts President Emeritus John DiBiaggio and wife Nancy DiBiaggio announced the fashion show portion of the evening, with the most highly applauded clothing being the Japanese "schoolgirl" outfit.
TURBO, The Tufts Break Dancing Club, also earned an especially appreciative round of applause, as did the fusion of traditional Egyptian belly dancing and hip-hop by the Arab Student Association. The Spirit of Color dance troupe's routine brought the house down as the Parade's finale.
According to sophomore Monica Saldarriaga, I-Club secretary, the club hopes to become an umbrella for the other cultural organizations.
"Since we do not concentrate on a particular region of the world, we hope that through activities like Intercultural Week, we can bring all other organizations in unison," Saldarriaga said. Saldarriaga says that being involved in the I-Club gives students the opportunity to work with different organizations and get to know a variety of people.
"We have been trying to break away from the traditional by adding our own little flavor by bringing people together, teaching them about different cultures, by allowing them to experience the excitement of each culture," she said.
Saldarriaga commends the clubs and organizations that participated in the Parade of Nations for making "our job a lot easier through their hard effort and constant dedication. I hope their experiences were as rewarding as ours."
Sophomore Yasmine Iliya looks forward to Parade of Nations all year as one of the best events that take place at Tufts because she believes that it recognizes and celebrates the diversity of the student body.
"The dances are phenomenal and so entertaining - I love them," Iliya said. "We've been working on our Arab Students Association dance for about a month and it's taken a lot of organization and energy, but it was worth it because we love to express our culture."
Co-choreographer for the Arab Students Association dance, senior Ayten Fatheldin, hopes that Parade of Nations - a tradition she has participated in all of her four years at Tufts - continues long into the future.
"This year many dancers in our dance are not even from Arabic heritage, which proves that the event is cross-cultural and unifying," she said.
I-Club president Eli Levin-Goldstein introduced the Oliver Chapman Award for Leadership and Community Service, which is presented annually at the Parade of Nations to an outstanding senior who has proven leadership abilities throughout his or her time at Tufts. This year the award was given for the first time to two of the six nominees this year, to seniors Carl Mould-Millman from Ghana and Sean McDermott, who said that he hailed from "all around the world." The seniors first met each other during international orientation their freshmen year.
The I-Club held its yearly Intercultural Festival from Feb. 14 to Feb. 24, beginning with a Valentine's Day parties at three Boston clubs: Avalon, Embassy, and The Modern. Other events included a Tufts Institute for Leadership and International Perspective (TILIP) symposium titled "China: Dimensions of Security," movie showings, World Cup playoffs, an international food fair, and a poetry and hip-hop performance at Hotung Caf?© in honor of Black History Month. The Intercultural Festival culminated in Saturday night's performance.
Profits from the ticket sales will be donated to the International Scholarship Committee, an international organization that helps to fund tuition expenses for foreign students studying to Tufts.
