Extravaganza spotlights campus cultures through performances and ‘Cultural March’

Now in its 22nd year, UHCL’s Cultural Extravaganza is an event filled with passion, appreciation and understanding of the very diverse backgrounds in the UHCL community. The 2018 Cultural Extravaganza was held April 25 in the Bayou Theater.

Sponsored and coordinated by the Office of Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (SDEI), Cultural Extravaganza is a night that brings together students, faculty and members of the community to give them the opportunity to represent their country by showcasing their talent.

While the event typically consists of student performers, this year’s show included a faculty member as well.

“This year’s event featured one faculty member, [Ipek Bozkurt, associate professor of engineering management], who represented Turkey,” said Nhee Vang, assistant director of SDEI. “We also had four other countries, United States, Germany, Nigeria and India, represented at the event.”

Vang explained how every year is different regarding the countries that are represented. The planning and coordinating of Cultural Extravaganza start in January, where he will begin to determine who will be interested in performing or playing a role at the event.

“There are about 16 performances that happen,” Vang said. “What is special about the end of the event is that each individual, whether they performed or not, carry their country’s flag on stage.”

At this year’s show, every performance was executed with plenty of pride and enthusiasm.

“The United States is one of the most diverse countries in the world,” said Andrew Nash, computer science major and performer. “It’s possible to meet people of every culture and background here.”

Nash’s musical talents are composing music and play the guitar. He wanted to share this at Cultural Extravaganza by performing an original song he composed called “Horizon.”

“I think the event went pretty well,” Nash said. “From my perspective, I can say that everyone was doing their best to give a good performance. Saturday was my first time performing at the event.”

Bozkurt, representing Turkey, performed piano pieces Wolfgang Mozart’s ‘Turkish March,’ also known as ‘Rondo Alla Turca’ from Sonata No. 11.

Performer Christina Sapp, literature major, represented Germany, by playing a ‘German Waltz’ on the clarinet.

There are some performers who did not sing or play an instrument.  Ivan Cazares, mathematics major, comedian, represented Mexico by performing stand-up comedy. His skit poked fun at the practice of ‘la chancla,’ which translates into English as ‘a sandal or flip-flop.’ When a Latino mother throws one or hits with one to reprimand a child, the practice is known as ‘la chancla.’ His comedy especially hit home with members of the audience who were familiar with the practice.  He also showed the audience how to avoid a hit from ‘la chancla’ with a few dance moves of his own.

Ravi Trivedi, engineering management major, represented India and performed a dance he named “Rebel Stormer.”

Groups and organizations also performed during the event.

Four members of The Social Work Student Organization, Dubelsa Salinas, Jocelyne Ibarra, Zayna Yassien and Precious Raphael, all of whom are science and social work majors, performed a mime routine that correlates to their organizational mission. The group performed, ‘These Acts of Giving are MIME.’ The performance was broken into four acts: Giving Food to the Less Fortunate, Heartbroken Love and New Happiness, Troubled Friendship and Forgiveness, and Leading the Visually Impaired.

Cultural Extravaganza is a popular event on campus every year, and many attendees bring their children. Vang noticed that the audience is getting younger and younger every year.

“This is my sixth year involved in putting Cultural Extravaganza together,” Vang said. “More children are attending the event.”

The show always closes with a ‘Cultural March’ where each person, performer or not, goes on stage to holding their country’s flag high with pride, joy and a sense of relief that the night was successful. This ties the whole show together because different backgrounds, cultures and upbringing shared the stage as one. After the event was over, there was a display of food from various cultures including samosas, bean and cheese tacos, fried rice, BBQ brisket and sausage, gulab jamun, spring rolls and cake.

If you’d like to be involved in Cultural Extravaganza or more information on how to help, you can visit UHCL Campus Life.