Harvard's Got 'Rhythms'

Harvard provides myriad artistic performances. However, its not always obvious how culturally diverse these performance groups are.

Cultural Rhythms, an annual event organized by the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations which took place Saturday afternoon, proved that there is no better manifestation of the talent and diversity of Harvard College than cultural music and dance.

Artist of the Year, Dan Aykroyd, the distinguished actor, musician, and screenwriter, expressed admiration for these enormously different performing groups and their well-rehearsed presentations. “I’ll never forget this day,” Aykroyd claimed. “This was just great.”

“Great” barely scratches the surface.

Saturday afternoon’s performance opened with a number by Corcairdhearg, the Harvard College Irish Dancers. Their flashy, glittering costumes and elaborate headpieces were upstaged only by the amazing technical precision of their footwork. In an interview with Aykroyd after their number, two members revealed that several members of the Irish dance group would be attending the World Championships this year. The almost inhuman synchronization of their movements made this news hardly surprising.

Corcairdhearg was followed by Ballet Folorico de Aztlan, a worthy follow-up with their dazzlingly colorful skirts and graceful turns.

The Harvard Intertribal Indian Dance Troupe, the Ukrainian Folk Dancers, and the Asian American Dance Troupe introduced the audience to their intriguing and equally impressive cultural styles and vibrant traditional costumes.

The much beloved Kuumba Singers of Harvard College closed the first act, offering a different, but equally satisfying, type of performance from those preceding it.

The second act of the afternoon show continued to impress with the wide array of cultures and talents Harvard boasts.

Tommy and Andres, a two-man band, sang about a picturesque Lithuanian peninsula town; even though the two sported get-ups and relied simply on a guitar, a violin and their voices, their performance equaled other, flashier numbers.

The Harvard Breakers infused the show with new energy, popping, locking, and spinning upside down. In the subsequent interview with Aykroyd, one member explained that he was one of four choreographers to assemble the piece, reminding us that the talent possessed by the members of Harvard dance groups is not simply limited to execution.

The Pan-African Dance and Music Ensemble sustained this vibrancy with choreography representative of many national cultures accompanied by skilled drumming. The dancers of the Harvard College Gumboots Troupe, which originated stylistically from the mines of apartheid South Africa, presented a more specific African heritage. Members danced in rubber boots while creating a beat of clapping, stomping, and chanting in a largely similar to spirit to the off-Broadway performing group STOMP.

The show could not have closed with a more appropriate finale, which consisted of representatives from each of the groups returning to the stage, first performing an excerpt of their own style, and finishing by coming together to all perform to the theme of Akroyd’s beloved movie “Ghostbuster,” which he wrote and starred in.

In addition to the tremendous talent portrayed throughout the afternoon, one must appreciate the number of students involved in each group. With the exception of the smaller Leña Dance Company and the duo of Tommy and Andres, each group took to the stage with at least eight dancers, singers, or instrumentalists, and often closer to twenty; Kuumba featured upward of thirty capable voices.

Cultural Rhythms 2009 proved once again why it has been tradition that has existed at Harvard for 24 years. In addition to celebrating the cultural diversity of the University, this amazing spectacle drives home the fact that Harvard students possess humbling talent that stretches far beyond the lecture hall. And this is always worthy of celebration.