Music: An international language
By Josh Work, Copy Editor
June 9, 2008 | 1:47 p.m.
Between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., six different groups sang and danced on the stage set up at the intersection, representing countries such as Peru, Cambodia, Indonesia and Japan. Sounds from around the world spread out from the middle of the street fair as students and locals took in the multicultural experience.
The stage opened with a performance by the music group International Jamming. The group’s founder, Ivan Amezquita, hesitated to call the musicians a band, given that they gathered to “jam” rather than produce their own music. Amezquita, a graduate student and developmental communications major, brought his guitar with him when he came to the United States from Peru.
He began playing at open stage events and bars around campus. Over time, others came to join him. After around two years together, the group has expanded to include 30 people or so at one time or another, including students from Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, Indonesia, Bolivia, Ghana and America.
“We work with them in this melting pot known as International Jamming,” Amezquita said.
At the street fair, International Jamming also played once again to close the event. They played Mexican, American and Cuban tunes, among others. One member, Alexander Sharabaroff, brought part of his own culture with the Russian song “Moscow Night,” adding in a Latin rhythm to accommodate the range of instruments.
The sensation of the music was most noticeably expressed when a well-dressed couple stopped in passing and danced to the Latin stylings of International Jamming. The couple’s dance culminated in a kiss, which yielded congratulations and handshakes from the on-looking crowd.
The street fair also featured two separate performances by Cambodian dancers. The first act was put on by a group of female performers dressed in robes and gold headdresses. They moved in sync with the chanting music, bending their wrists and contorting their legs with ease.
Later, a second group of Cambodian dancers took the stage, enacting a traditional New Year folk dance. The dance, which symbolized an old courtship ritual, called for three male performers holding wooden “instruments.” By tradition, men would play music to woo passing women. After the men danced for some time, three women joined them and acted out the courtship ceremony, kneeling by the men and following the movement of the instruments.
Between these two Cambodian dances, a group of students from the Indonesian Student Association performed the traditional Saman dance of Indonesia. Led by instructor Fitria Kurniasih, the students, dressed in matching clothing, moved together in response to ethnic chants. Their movements became faster and more complex as the performance continued.
After the completion of the Saman dance, the students opened the stage to the crowd. They started a line dance native to Indonesia, similar to “La Macarena” or country line dances. The dance moved out to the area around the stage, and audience members, young and old, joined in the routine.
Following naturally from the Indonesian line dance, the Athenian Eastern Dancers took to the area in front of the stage for their performance. The dance group, led by instructor Rihab Bagnole, introduced a number of belly dance acts to the audience. After six weeks of practicing at the Charles J. Ping Student Recreation Center for an hour each day, the students shook to the Eastern music at crowd level.
Senior Erin McMullan, one of the dancers, took the class at the Ping Center after one of her co-workers talked her into it. At the practices, she and the other dancers would work at performing different moves while keeping weighted hula hoops aloft or balancing foam blocks on their heads.
“Eventually, I got the hang of it,” McMullan said. “I could never hula hoop before, but with the weighted hula hoops it was a lot easier.”
McMullan also said that she plans to continue with the belly dancing classes, owing to the effective workout and the social aspect.
“I thought it was really fun just practicing with my friend. The teacher was really nice, too,” she said.
After a solo act by one of the dancers, the group opened the floor to the audience as well. As the music echoed in the street, belly dancers and pedestrians alike moved their bodies in beat, trying out the hula hoops and enjoying the atmosphere.
The last performance before International Jamming’s finale was put on by the Japanese Student Association. Dressed in matching blue and white robes and red headbands, students of multiple nationalities led an energetic and spirited dance, complete with shouted cheers and strong movements. The motions and music brought on the image of a group of warriors training in a dojo, pressing outward with the rhythm of the music and grunting loudly with the completion of each step.
Throughout the day, the different acts on the stage provided a focal point for the street fair. The busy street was transformed from a bar sprawl to a multi-sensory atmosphere. It was a multicultural experience thanks to the food, goods, music and dance of many countries. Although cloudy skies and light rain threatened to darken the experience, music prevailed and the fair continued unabated.
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