By Randy Chow

The University of Maryland Global Communities Student Association held its annual Cultural Explosion event on Friday, March 8.

At 6:30 p.m., the lights began to dim in the Hoff Theater in the Adele H. Stamp Student Union, and the celebration kicked off. 

Eight dance performances and one a cappella group made up the 50 student performers of the night. The organizations and performers represented different types of cultures and included the Terrapin Tap Troupe, a classical Indian dance, the Riddim Ryderz, Ethnobeat, GCSA, the Tianyi Dance Team, Pa’Lante Dance Company and Ganji.

“Our mission was to get the UMD community to experience all the cultures that are here,” said Maribel Thomas, treasurer of GCSA and sophomore accounting and information systems double major. “I’m so glad they were all able to showcase their own cultures, and we were all able to see that.”

GCSA is an undergraduate student-led organization that plans community-building and social events for the Honors Global Communities, according to the group’s website.

Starting the night, six members from the Terrapin Tap Troupe tapped, clapped and danced to “On the Floor” by Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull. Audience members clapped and cheered during the song’s chorus. Spirits were high.

Anushka Tandon, junior environmental science major, carried on the momentum as she performed a classical Indian dance called Odissi. Green and red lights flashed while Tandon demonstrated her technical dance skills.

The Riddim Ryderz, a group of six dancers representing their Caribbean culture, were up next. They thrilled the crowd with their feats of dance and flexibility, especially when two performers did the splits, earning loud cheers from the spectators.

Eleven members of Ethnobeat, a multilingual, multicultural campus musical group, sang three a cappella songs. The only singing group of the night, their powerful voices carried all the way to the back row. 

GCSA’s dance routine energized the crowd while showing off some members’ Southeast Asian pride. Thomas sported a green, yellow and black dupatta throughout the performance. Their efforts lit up the theater and audience members chanted “GCSA, GCSA!” at the end of the routine.

A dancer representing the Tianyi Dance Team, a group of student dancers who express their passion for Chinese culture through folk and traditional dance, moved as delicately and gently as the music that played.

Eight dancers from the Pa’Lante Dance Company, an on-campus Latin dance team, excited the audience with energetic salsa partner work. They danced on two beats to the classic salsa track “El Yo-yo” by Wayne Gorbea and Salsa Picante. 

Kathleen Mendez, co-captain of the Pa’Lante Dance Company and a sophomore nutrition and dietetics major, said she was glad to contribute to GCSA’s mission of promoting different cultures.

“It was really fun,” Mendez said. “I really enjoyed it. I’m happy we got to perform today.”

Lastly, Ganji, a passionate crew of Korean-Pop dancers, closed out the show by blending skateboarding into their peppy dance choreography.

“It went great,” said Ziyan Ahmed, GCSA President and a sophomore biochemistry and government and politics double major.

“I didn’t realize that almost every single culture, whether it’s from an ethnicity, religion or specific group of people, can be represented on campus,” Ahmed said. “It was really nice to be able to put all those groups on and give them a platform.”

The turnout of approximately 100 people was much higher than anticipated, and “a lot” higher than last year’s showcase, said Stella Henson, vice president of GCSA and a sophomore history major.

“I loved all of the performances,” said spectator Alex Shrestha, a sophomore information science major. “It was really cool watching groups of different cultures perform.”

Henson said the event’s goal was to celebrate culture on campus. 

“University of Maryland is such a diverse school,” Henson said after the show. “It’s a beautiful thing that we can come together and celebrate each other and see each other shine.”

Featured Image: Members of the Pa’Lante Dance Company salsa at GCSA’s Cultural Explosion. Photo by Randy Chow.