1:03 p.m., Nov. 24, 2009----An international fashion show, cultural displays representing more than 20 countries, and musical and dance performances by English Language Institute and University of Delaware students were the highlights of UD's fifth annual International Education Festival held Thursday, Nov. 19.

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The festival, the largest international culture event of the year, was hosted by the English Language Institute to celebrate international culture as part of the International Education Week at UD. The fashion show was held in partnership with the Department of Fashion and Apparel Studies and the Sigma Gamma Sigma sorority.

The celebration started with a display of nations and cultures in the Rodney Room of the Perkins Center. Countries represented included Argentina, Italy, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, South Korea, Cote d'Ivoire, Burkina-Faso, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China, Taiwan, and Japan.

Participants included students from the Cosmopolitan Club, the Caribbean Students Association, the Delaware African Student Association, the Campus Alliance de La Raza, and volunteers representing New Jersey, Delaware, and Pennsylvania.

Graduate students Bakhtyar Ali, Shahid Hussain and Almas Khan performed traditional Pakistani music and sang a folk song. Undergraduates Leigh Hobson and Jill Jastrembski performed a song from the Prince Caspian film. They were followed by a Pakistani bhangra dance performance by Saad Ahmad.

Matthew Werth demonstrated his expertise with traditional Chinese yo-yos, followed by a performance of Korean classical music by vocalist Seon-Woo Choi and violinist Sun-Jun Moon. Undergraduate Joel Beller sang, accompanying himself on the acoustic guitar.

Traditional Chinese dancers from the Ming Hui school in Philadelphia were followed by a lesson in Salsa dancing by Chilean student Quena Diaz and her American husband Matt Siebecker. Graduate students Rizwan Khalid and Syed Shabbar Raza Rizvi recited poetry by classical Pakistani poet Faiz, with an English translation.

Undergraduate guitarist Dan Murphy performed a solo piece for guitar, which he composed himself. He was followed by a performance by Korean vocalist Seon-Woo Choi.

Saudi Arabian ELI students demonstrated three traditional and modern dances, followed by a stirring performance of traditional Turkish music, performed on the ba_lama by Eyup Güzel, and a display of traditional dancing by the Turkish ELI students.

Colombian students demonstrated dance from their country and ELI teachers gave a display of American line-dancing.

After the talent portion of the evening, the audience was treated to a demonstration kendo sparring match by Matt Broda and Phillip Hendrickson of the UD Kendo Club and a Tai Qi Quan demonstration by ELI teacher Russ Mason, accompanied by Chaoqi Fan playing on a traditional Chinese string instrument known as an “erhu.”

The international fashion show was hosted by Grace Manalo, a student in the fashion and apparel studies program, and Robert Lamoureaux of the ELI.

The fashion show, modeled by ELI and UD students and teachers, included traditional and modern costumes from Uzbekistan, China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, Senegambia, Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Mexico, Colombia, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the U.S.

Article by Baerbel Schumacher
Photos by Ambre Alexander and Barbara Morris