Vibrant Kwanzaa Fest Illuminates African Culture
The fashion show featured a variety of colorfully patterned traditional clothing. Photo Credit: Justin Chow
BY JESSICA VERLY, AMEILA KERR, and BRIAN AGUILAR
The African dancers, dressed in vibrant colors, danced in sync and full out across the auditorium stage as well as in the aisles, within an arm’s length of the audience.
“It was really great,” Arman Hossain ’22 said. “I’ve only seen this type of dancing in movies. I don’t celebrate Kwanzaa, but this makes me want to.”
Even after long afterschool practices that lasted until 8:00 p.m, the African dancers brought so much energy, showing the dedication and hard work that led to the success of this year’s Kwanzaa Fest on Thursday, December 19.
“I was trying my best to dance my heart out and give them all the good vibes I have,” Tianna Bassie ’21 said. “It looked like they enjoyed it, which makes me have more good vibes at the end.”
Directed by history teacher Ms. Marie Volcy, Kwanzaa Fest’s 30th annual celebration featured singing, dancing, modeling, and acting.
The production included gospel, praise dancers, and a play. Photo Credit: Justin Chow
The show started off with a play. The audience reacted with laughs and some people even reacted with yells.
“It was like a sitcom,” Taylor Scantlebury ’22 said. “I was high-key enjoying it.”
Then the gospel choir sang “My God is Awesome” and “Your Spirit.” After the performance, the room filled with loud applause.
“Your Spirit” by Tasha Cobbs is a common church favorite. The praise dancers danced with so much emotion in their steps that you could feel it in the air.
“I was straight up vibin’ with them, no cap,” Chaz Alexis ’21 said. “They were emitting their energy to me, and I was just taking it all in, not in a weird way, though.”
The fashion show was spectacular as well.
The ladies were dressed in bright blue, pink, yellow, and orange dresses, gowns and combos with intricate traditional designs. The males were shirtless, wearing shorts of similarly flashy colors and patterns.
The males strutted across the stage, some with either one or two beautiful ladies by their side, and the packed crowd went wild.
The steppers then came out dressed in black shirts with vibrant pants and black sneakers. They were stomping so hard that you could feel their emotion through their movements.
Aliyah Eloi ’21 said, “Since it’s my junior year and high school is almost finished, I wanted to do Kwanzaa Fest and feel the excitement rushing through me, even though the practices were hard and my stress levels went through the roof.”
Jolynda Auguste ’21, part of the art crew, said, “I felt like I wanted to do something in this school since it’s my junior year and high school is almost finished. Staying until 5:30 p.m. was really hard for me, but seeing how good the show worked out, it was all worth it.”
Akirra Beltran ’21 said, “Freshman year I was a part of Kwanzaa Fest and it felt really good. The lights and cameras were in my face, but to see how much of a success it was really made me happy because the crew and I showed up and showed out.”
Kwanzaa Fest, which began in 1989, was the first of Midwood’s cultural festivals. This year marked its 30th anniversary. October also saw the school’s first ever Hispanic Fest.,Asian Fest takes place in February, and the first ever Caribbean Fest will debut in March.