Although recent federal actions have struck fear and anxiety into U.S. immigrants, international Clark students have not lost their hope. On Saturday, March 21, the university’s international community demonstrated its pride and festivity despite the hostile political climate, through a classic campus tradition: The International Gala.
International Gala is one of the biggest campus events of the year. Hosted by the International Students Association, it is a celebration of cultures featuring dances representing different countries and regions, directed, choreographed and performed entirely by Clark students.
This year’s theme was Sincerely, Gala. “The moves and tunes in this year’s Gala are our cultural signature, a letter to you,” the program reads. “[It’s] about ensuring the ink never truly dries.”
Although the show started at 7pm, the line formed as early as 5 — and at one point reached all the way to Wright Hall. Soon, campus ambassadors were called the maintain the 1,500 person crowd packed into the Kneller Center.
This year, Gala presented 17 dances, representing 17 unique places and each with 11 to 25 performers, all donning culturally significant clothing and performing unique shows to unique music. Some dances were a festive parade, while others sought to drum up as much excitement as possible.
What they had in common, though, was their sparkle and raw energy, as each performance was a spectacle to witness.
The first dance, representing Eastern Europe, started off with a cackle – for the dance was based around Slavic conceptions of witchcraft. But as the hosts explained, this didn’t represent evil at all. “In Slavic folklore, people who were close to nature were often considered witches,” the directors said. “Not because they were evil, but because they knew stuff that other people didn’t.”
The dance seemed pagan and ritualistic, as if
the dancers were doing witchcraft themselves. At one point, they waved their fingers over their mouths to represent how witchcraft was kept a secret in Eastern European society.
“The directors put in a lot of effort to tell a story in each of the dances,” said dancer Margo Nemanov ‘28.
For Bangladesh dancer Rowajana Barbie ‘28, her favorite part about Gala is the accurate representation. “You’re not just getting random facts about countries — you’re seeing it through their culture,” she said. “You can tell which country values different kinds of things. Do they like a slower pace of life? Do they like a hyper pace of life?”
For example, Haiti’s kompa and other dances were slower, but full of spirit. “Haitian Creole is a romantic and passionate language, which naturally makes us very passionate people full of love,” Haiti dancer Ketshaly Philome ‘26 explained.
Many dancers wore matching clothing to create powerful visual effects. Whether it was Eastern Europe’s bright red shawls and long gloves, Spain’s sparkling grey tops and arm warmers, or West and Central Africa’s colorful one-sided feather skirts, each dance’s clothing made a powerful cultural statement.
Other dancers wore clothing meant to represent their national colors. Brazil’s dancers, for example, wore green and yellow shirts to represent the country’s flag, and Jamaica’s wore alluring striped shirts displaying the colors of the Caribbean island.
At the same time, Nigeria – a country with over 200 cultures, and even more languages – had each dancer wear a distinct outfit.
Bangladesh put on a difficult show communicating the energy of the country while also remaining true to the friendliness of its people. To demonstrate this energy, the choreographer called on ea
ch dancer to stomp their feet with vigor, creating a dramatic effect.
Barbie explained how important Bangladesh’s energy was for a country too often neglected on the world stage.“We need to show we are here to stay,” she said. “We are here to make our presence known.”
Some dances utilized props to showcase their cultures, while engaging the audience at the same time. Cambodia’s dancers held coconuts to celebrate Khmer culture and preserve tradition, and the Philippines dancers waved around drumsticks, creating a circuslike atmosphere. Nepal span around black and red umbrellas at the end of the dance, casting off red flower petals falling to the ground.
Perhaps the greatest example, though, was Vietnam. These dancers carried the cone-shaped nón lá hat, a symbol of Vietnam’s rice growing culture and a badge of elegance and beauty. But the best part was when the lights turned off: The dancers used the hats, which were outfitted with lights, to create captivating patterns in the dark.
Puerto Rico managed to include an especially i
mpressive array of dance styles, tactfully using lighting and music changes to signify the quickly-changing dances. “We wanted to make sure to highlight the diverse diaspora on the island,” the directors explained. “So you’ll see so many different types of dances ranging from bomba to reggaeton to salsa!”
Meanwhile, Myanmar and Cambodia both made their first appearances in Gala history. However, that (combined with the small number of Burmese and Cambodian people at Clark) created a lot of pressure on the directors. “I put a lot of pressure on myself to be perfect,” Cambodia co-director Monique Say ‘26 said. “I really wanted it to be culturally accurate, even if people hadn’t heard about Cambodia.”
“There are so many choices you can make because it’s a new country – It’s a first impression,” Ruth Myint ‘27, co-director for Myanmar, added. She and Christina Tun ‘28 teamed up to create a dance taking the audience through the history of their country. They went from the Kayin New Year to hardships stemming from Myanmar’s coup d’état.
“We can connect so many generations together all in one show,” Tun said. Even Myint’s grandmother was singing along to a song in real time!
They ended with a song shouting out all of Myanmar’s major ethnic groups. “Our dance felt very grounded to who we were,” Myint said.
Cambodia’s dance had similar themes, as Say emphasized the resilience and perseverance of all Cambodians. “From the north to the south to the east to the west of the country, we’re all coming together, and continuing this inheritance of our culture,” she explained. Unlike many of the other countries, Cambodia had a lot of folk dances in its show.
Say also described how much co-directing Cambodia brought her closer to her own culture. “It’s really culturally enriching for yourself, because you have to do a bunch of research on your own
,” she said.
While each dance represents a single country or region, the dancers themselves in each one were much more diverse. Many of the dancers were those with different ethnic backgrounds, who just wanted to partake in the fun.
For example, Bangladesh had dancers from the Philippines, the Congo, Haiti, Britain and Japan among its 13 dancers, only 4 of whom were Bangladeshi. “We wanted our dance to be approachable by literally anyone,” Barbie said.
Similarly, the dances are accessible to everyone watching as well. “You don’t need to understand the lyrics,” Myint explained. “You just need to understand the feeling of the people dancing and expressing themselves.
“And that’s what makes Gala so beautiful.” she expressed.
