Group Event : Culture Showcase

Erin:

Going to the CAB Cultural Showcase, I didn't know what to expect. I had gone to similar events on campus before but this was a refreshing experience, especially in light of elections when there has been such a visible divide on campus. To see student performers from various backgrounds come together for one show has helped me to appreciate the diversity and understanding this university does have to offer. 

There were a variety of performances including acapella and various types of dance. My favorite performance was the Old Gold Acapella group (who unfortunately didn't place) whose performance included a rendition of Beyonce's Love On Top. I think combining acapella with pop music is fun, especially for a performance directed at college students. It really got the crowd hyped up to hear a familiar song with a twist. I think a big part about performing is being able to relate to your audience and I think all of the groups did a great job of that.

Another aspect of the showcase that I really enjoyed was seeing my friends perform. I had friends in 4 of the groups: the Thai dance group, OASIS, UI Breakers, and Iowa Andhi. These groups are very different in style but that just means that there are opportunities for students to get involved on campus no matter what your cultural/artistics interests are. I think going to showcases like this is a great opportunity for students to really see what's out there and experience this part of campus life. Try something new and put yourself out there, it is the best way to learn about new cultures here at the UI!

Raines:


 My friend Cosmos told me that he had a dance show with his friend on Thursday night, and the event is called “Cultural showcase”. It is so surprising when i found out that this is exactly the same event that I just decided to go for my ESL class requirement.

This is not a competition to decide who’s the best!

Everyone came from different cultural backgrounds got on stage and show their stuffs in different forms, whoever gots the top 3 get 1k in total, does this sounds like a very tense competition that trying to decide whose culture is the best? What if I say they are also three judges under the stage, and everyone will vote for whoever they think the best after the event finished? But as matter of fact, this is not a competition for picking the best, this is a competition that actually looking for the most “cultural inclusive” team.

This event becomes a medium of cultural exchange. 

In daily life, we are so used to be one of the member in our own cultural circles, and we are proud of it. But sometimes that “proud” could becomes a dangerous barrier to not let others in. Every time when we talk about culture, we think of the difference. And when we think of difference, we subconsciously separate us from people in other culture. Because when you think of how people are different from you, it is so natural for you to stay away from those people, and stick with people who share the same value with you. But this event is different, it became a medium of cultural exchange, because everyone here are trying to find something similar, something the same, such as happiness. They work together, and their show are just excellent! You can find US student learn how to dance India style, and they dance with Indian student, you can see how happy they are. You can’t tell what is the difference of performance between US student and Indian student, because in that moment, there are no more culture exist, only happiness.

 Sylvia:

The event I went to with my group members called "The Cultural Showcase", at 10:00 pm Thursday night. In my mind, the cultural showcase could include arts, music, films, literature, clothes, food, and many kinds of ways, and to showcase to the audience. I was surprised that we had many dance performances tonight to showcase their different cultures. On the other hand, I think it is suitable to use dance to describe culture differences; because the dance performances can have rich forms and life, and easy to let people catch the point of cultural showcase, such as music, movements, and clothes.

I am not very familiar with the types of dances, but I guess the first coming dance is the hip hop. Hip-hop is more than music, and has influenced the community of America a lot. African-American music plays demonstrative role in the evolution, instead of speaking language. Although hip hop does use aggressive music, and provocative lyrics, people did not negate the fact that hip hop is a vocal truth or events outlets to express their opinions and persuasion in America. Therefore, hip hop could be defined relevant culturally in the United States.

There was one group choosing to chorus Beyoncé’s music to express culture. Probably she is the most famous and popular pop singers in the world. Forbes ranked Beyoncé as the 32nd most powerful woman in the world last year, her songs appears everywhere.

Comparing the differences with Asian cultural and American cultural, American’s is more outgoing and proud than Asian’s. That could be found when Thai showcase started. Those movement of steps were more slow and gentle than the hip hop.

In the end, the musical dancing performance has been a powerful technique for engendering cultural awareness over all different cultural history in different countries.