African Night’s royalty shimmers
African Night, hosted by African Student Association with Kearney International Center, introduced African cultures through a variety of performances.
The theme of this year’s event was Afro-Royal. ASA President, Evelin Boniface, said the goal is to raise awareness about African royalty.
“It is about understanding every country’s royalty and how each different country’s royalty is set up,” said Boniface. “And the goal is for everybody to come dressed in their royalty clothing or their cultural clothes.”
Vice President of ASA, Joel Tchouke said he is excited to work on the event and see how it went.
“This is the second biggest cultural event at MSU and each year has always been a success. We expect students to discover what African culture is because the theme of the night is Afro-royal, and we are also expecting them to learn about the royalties in Africa,” said Tchouke.
Visitors were able to taste cultural dishes, as well as watch performances demonstrating various cultures of Africa. Besides the dance group performances, the event program included a fashion show, live music, and cultural skits that show the African cultures from within.
“My performance is the dance with the Nigerian Dance Group,” said freshman Kome Ovraiti. “The performance is showcasing the Nigerian culture and our dances.”
“I played jazz and music related to Afro-American culture,” said Tchouke.
“I participated in the fashion show, in which I showed my African culture,” said Boniface. “And then I was also dancing with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast.”
Students and staff members visited the event to support their friends, learn and enjoy the agenda of the night.
“Honestly, I’m waiting for the board members to stand and get their round of applause. They deserve all the flowers, literally. They put in a lot of work and I’m very proud of them,” said BalenciaSariah Crosby, the advisor for ASA.
“I have friends that are performing and I want to support them. And I’m hoping to learn something new about the African culture,” said senior Majd Alharbi. “Cultural events like this are a couple of hours where I feel like I’m not in the U.S. and that I’m traveling the world. No matter how much you can know about a culture, you will always learn something new from these events.”
Crosby added that she would like to thank the performers and board members for the event.
“I would likely start with a big thank you, because it takes a lot to get in front of people that you don’t know or maybe you don’t know, well,” said Crosby. “And I put your heart out there so I would definitely apply them and thank them for doing so.”
Header photo: Students were treated to a dazzling night of true royalty at this year’s Africa Night. A number of students performed in dance groups along with a fashion show, live music and cultural skits. (Lilly Anderson/The Reporter)
Write to Amalia Sharaf at amal.sharafkhodjaeva@mnsu.edu