On Sunday, April 17, Lawrence International put up an impressive evening of music, dinner and dance at the annual Cabaret performance in Stansbury Theatre. It was well-received by the 492-strong audience, which was thoroughly entertained by the dazzling multi-cultural showcase and delicious food.
The show started off with a bang as the Sambistas marched in unison with their jaunty drumming. Representing all the nations of Lawrence, members of the LI contingent came on stage, each bearing their national flags with pride as Dominic Azan, president of LI, kicked off the event with his opening speech. The emcees, Kwabena Buanya (“Koby”) and Tungtaeya Salmartha Abdel-Majeed (“Taeya”), then began the show with greetings in various languages.
The first performance on the program was the Israeli dance, followed by a Spanish Sevillana dance characterized by delicate foot-tapping and hand-clapping movements. A violin-piano duo played classical music, and one patriotic Russian sang her country’s former national anthem. This was followed by a beautiful solo rendition of a Spanish song accompanied by the guitar.
Then the Latin dancers enticed everyone with their hot dance moves. The belly dance was, in the words of one audience member “simply brilliant.” The Japanese students performed a short play and festival dance, which was followed by the lively African dance, colorful subcontinental dance, and a Jamaican dance.
One of the most memorable moments from the show was Koby’s “Krack Dance” where he demonstrated his physical dexterity through almost impossible bodily contortions, and still managed to tell a story of romantic rejection with help from his co-per