The opening act of the Romance Language Cultural Extravaganza, according to Lisa Franks, an adjunct French instructor, is that the underlining text behind “Sous le ciel de Paris” expresses that the “Rainbow comes out in the end.” This was not only true to the song, but also to the final performers of the night, Flamenco dancers Pasion y Arte, whose bold colors and strength brought a beautiful ending to an extravagant night.
The night began with heartwarming thanks from the coordinator of the event, Dr. Cynthia Halpern, department chair or Romance Languages. The event was made possible by the Fund for the Improvement of Education awarded to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education to develop a global curriculum initiative.
A wide range of people attended this event; children, students and older adults filled the room on Friday, Nov. 7. Some students, who were taking a foreign language class, received extra credit for going to the event.
Music filled the atrium as we awaited the beginning of the Romance Language Cultural Extravaganza. Franks began by expressing her thoughts on the song she was about to sing. Franks expressed her words through her gestures, which may be from the acting she did at the Walnut Street Theatre. Franks, a frequent church soloist, first song came from “La Boheme”.
Food and drinks were served representing the countries of Italy, France and Spain. For Italy they had Brushetta, which is made of tomatoes, basil and cheese put on top of bread. For France they had Crepes, almost like thin pancakes, which were filled with cream cheese. Finally, representing food from Spain, they had a Spanish dip made with olives. Wood Dining Services made all of the different types of hors d’oeuvres, non-alcoholic sangria’s and lemonade were also given out to anyone who attended the event.
The next performers, Pasion y Arte, strengthen the Flamenco tradition by using dance, song and guitar to focus on the empowerment of women. According to their website, www.pasionyarte.com, it states that their works “examine gender, cultural, religious, socio-economic and generational boundaries in the context of the Flamenco language”. The Flamenco dancers showed no emotion in their face, but showed strength in their performance.
Halpern said that we would “not be disappointed” and that it would be well worth the wait, and there was nothing disappointing and it was well worth the wait.
Posted to the web by: Cecelia Francisco
