The Multicultural Club hosted a Multicultural Day event in the Little Theater that began during period two and continued during periods three, five, six, eight and nine. Students from the Multicultural Club volunteered to showcase their cultures by singing, performing plays, speaking in their native language, and dancing. The festive and uplifting celebration brought together the rich traditions, music, dances, and attire from all around the world featuring Asian, Latin American, Caribbean, European, and African cultures. Throughout the school day, language teachers brought their students to the Little Theater to watch the performances.
The multicultural event is a long running tradition within the Bay Shore High School, it was founded by the recently retired Spanish teacher, Marcela Pachon-Abbot. Wendy Wang and Sara Soto decided to follow suit and continue to set the bar high for the multicultural event. Wang and Soto are both the advisors of the Multicultural Club, which has led the show with big support from the World Language teachers and the director of World Language too.
This annual event has been held at Bay Shore High School for the past few years. Hosting this event requires time and dedication from both students in the Multicultural Club and the teachers who facilitate this club. Members prepare by planning their various performances, such as staying after school practicing with their groups, reading their parts, singing at home, or staying for extra help with Madame Boisdin, a French teacher at the high school. Around 90 students volunteered this year, which include singers, dancers, actors and poets. Each period, the number of students performing differs, but every single performer took part in showcasing their culture.
During period eight, the first group to perform featured seniors Saman Khalil, Karishma Pahuja and Zahra Alam, who represented South Asian culture through a Bollywood dance. Sophomore Alnorig Taveras Santos especially enjoyed the Bhangra Bollywood dances, mentioning a very unexpected part of the performance, which had the audience audibly gasping.
“For me personally, every single time they came on, l was dancing and singing along, it was very good music and I enjoyed it very much. I felt like they brought an immaculate vibe that just made the whole room light up,” said Santos. “Whenever they did the last part where they turn off the lights and build up suspense, that part was honestly very clever. It was nice. It caught me off guard and I thought it was real. I didn’t think they were acting.”
Another outstanding performance was the Mexican Folklore dance (Baile folklórico) done by juniors Jasmine Leon, Itzel Aviles, Sabrina Fernandez and Katherine Juca. They wore Mexican dresses that were vibrant colors and wore flowers in their hair. Different regions in Mexico and Latin America in general, have different footwork, stomps, and heel points, which is supposed to represent different aspects of animals like horses, iguanas, and vultures.
Jasmine Leon, one of the dancers in the traditional Mexican folklore dance, shared the reasons why she performed during multicultural day.
“Performing in front of students who may not know of my culture can be a little frightening. We won’t know how they would react or maybe we might be made fun of, but that doesn’t stop us [from] doing what we love,” said Leon. “Multicultural Day is one of the best ways to express different types of cultures. Students get to see their friends and classmates on how amazing and beautiful they perform while showing different cultures.”
Multicultural Day not only offered entertainment, but also served as a powerful reminder of the many communities that are present and shapes our school, leaving a lasting impression on both performers and audience members alike through vibrant music, expressive dancing and captivating plays. Volunteers of the celebration proudly celebrated their culture while also being able to invite others and encourage them to learn and connect about other cultures.
“Through their performances, students expressed pride in their heritage. They worked very hard to inspire the viewers to learn more about their cultures,” said Soto. “At the end of the show, we had a few students request to join our club which made us all very excited.”
The Multicultural Club meets weekly and provides students with the opportunity to try new foods from different parts of the world, learn about different cultures around the world, learn how to dance bachata, and different music.
