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March 28, 2024

CultureShow brings out campus diversity

By ANNE HOLLMULLER | November 10, 2016

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COURTESY OF JHU FILIPINO STUDENTS ASSOCIATION One of the groups that performed at this year’s CultureShow, the JHU Fillipino Students Association.

The 29th annual Culture Show, sponsored by the JHU Office of Multicultural Affairs, took place last Saturday in Shriver Hall. A celebration of the diverse roots and vibrant backgrounds of the students on the Homewood Campus, the show featured performances from many Hopkins dance and a cappella groups.

Culture Show took place after CultureScape 2016, a week-long series of cultural events across the Homewood Campus. The theme of this year’s events was the celebration of individuality and the ways in which all of our stories are interconnected.

Culture Show is meant to be a celebration of diverse identities on campus. According to the evening’s program, “Culture Show is a collaborative showcase of artistic cultural expression celebrating the many cultures represented and embraced by Hopkins students.

It was established in 1987 as part of CultureFest, a tradition founded to promote understanding and appreciation of cultural differences. CultureFest has since evolved into CultureScape: a series of events that cultivate the appreciation and understanding of the many cultures at Hopkins throughout the year.

The Temps D’Afrique (TDA) African dance troupe performed a high-energy dance that included a sprint into the audience. TDA quickly had all of the Hopkins students and others seated in Shriver Hall shouting and applauding.

Ketzev, the University’s Jewish a cappella group, performed a medley of songs from Blink-182. Jaywalk, the University’s contemporary dance team, performed a dance to Etta James’ “At Last” and dedicated their segment to strong women of color like James and Beyoncé.

Hopkins Breakers performed a series of tricks and moves that had the audience cheering. They depicted the different motivations and inspirations of breakers in the American city.

Baila!, the University’s Latin dance group, performed an energetic routine. The performance included their signature song and accompanying routine. Shakti, the University’s all-female Indian classical dance team, told a moving story about the survivor of an acid attack in what was perhaps the most moving performance of the night. Shakti, in tune with the evening’s effort to tell meaningful stories, used classical dance to depict the struggle, suffering and perseverance of an acid attack survivor who finds the courage to tell her story and join in solidarity with other survivors.

Music Dynasty, the Johns Hopkins Chinese a cappella group, performed two songs. Their very talented soloists brought to life two songs, one American pop song and one Chinese pop song.

The Filipino Student Association performed some of the traditional dance forms of the diverse history and influences on culture in the Philippines. Daring stunts involving very tall jumps kept the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the performance.

Eruption Step Team was next to perform, and the team has grown significantly in number since its debut, allowing for the sounds of the dancers’ steps to fill the whole of Shriver Hall. The members of Eruption also shared some of the history and significance of step, or step dancing, and of the African and Afro-Caribbean roots of this dance form.

Young Han Lion Dance Troupe presented a tableau depicting the gang battles of American Chinatowns during the 1970s. Violent and desperately tragic, the allegorical depiction moved the students in the audience to gasps of surprise.

Lastly, Blue Jay Bhangra offered a vivid and lively performance of the dance form that originated in the province of Punjab and combines folk traditions with Western pop music. Judging from the cheers of the audience, the always crowd-pleasing Blue Jay Bhangra was an excellent choice for finishing out the night.

The emcees for the evening, Gale McFarlane and Bradley Cardona, charmed the audience and helped the show go on and took the time to remind the audience of what Culture Show and CultureScape are all about. During intermission, the two also conducted a raffle where the winners won items of Hopkins swag, including sweatshirts, hats and large blankets.

The inspiration for this year’s Culture Show came from a lecture given by Hopkins alum, MacArthur Fellowship winner and acclaimed Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TedTalk, “Dangers of a Single Story.”

In this talk, Adichie describes the “single story [creating] stereotypes.”

“...The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete [and] make one story become the only story,” Adichie said in the talk.

The 2016 Culture Show, therefore, aims to bring the Hopkins community together by adding more diverse stories to the typical Hopkins narratives.

For those who missed the show, an HD recording will be made available on the YouTube page of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Students were encouraged to use the #RockYourStory in posts and stories about the event. Culture Show stickers were also given out at the end of the evening.


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