November is a month dedicated to diversity, and last Wednesday I went to an amazing event called the International Explosion.
It was hosted by the Council of Ethnic Organizations (CEO), which is an organization on campus that promotes quality programs to display ethnic diversity and multiculturalism.
The International Explosion is a cultural talent show in which different organizations perform in order to help their peers gain a better sense of what is valued in their respective cultures.
The top three organizations were awarded a trophy, and the first place winner received $500. Individual performers were awarded points for the Homecoming festivities used to win prizes.
The program began with everyone boarding an imaginary plane. The pilot, Captain Jared, along with his lovely assistant flew us around the world to experience all types of cultural performances. The talents of these UH students were mostly displayed in the form of dancing that came from places like Vietnam, India, Nigeria and more. The winners of this competition had props, awesome realistic cultural dance attire and an eye catching high-energy dance routine.
One of the Greek organizations showed us a very saucy and sexy Latin Salsa/Zumba type of dance that wowed the crowd. The ladies who performed cultural dances from the Vietnam routine were very colorful and beautiful with their bright yellow and pink outfits.
Then in a blink of an eye the ladies let loose and showed us their wild side, which had the boys hooting and cheering with delight.
The men and women representing NSA did an outstanding job incorporating and re-performing a popular dance routine originally done by Ciara in her music video “Ride” into their choreography.
There was also an individual who played a guitar solo for about five minutes straight and a guy who was a triple threat; performing on guitar, piano and singing in a different language. I loved the music that was played throughout each performance and felt there wasn’t a dull tune.
Among the crowd were at least 10 people who had visited 10 or more countries, including one performer involved in the Air Force who visited 19. The show was very entertaining and worthwhile, and definitely recommended.
