Eleganza Goes Greek

Students delivered a spectacular combination dance and cat-walk performance amidst intense beats and radiating lights at the annual fashion fundraiser event Eleganza on Saturday night.

The show, which took place at the Lavietes Pavilion, raised $5,000 for the local youth organization Teen Empowerment.

Two youths from the group kicked off Eleganza with a rap about their experiences living in Somerville.

Looks featured on the runway ranged from high fashion to casual wear, from Abercrombie & Fitch to Nicole Miller, from jean shorts to floor-length gowns, and from black dresses to floral prints.

The show, in its 17th year, had a theme of Greek mythology.

The storyline involved a handsome young hero who was seduced by a nymph in red. He chased her through three different worlds­­—Medusa’s lair, the Underworld, and Mount Olympus—to finally discover that she was not who he thought she was.

“It was really cool,” said prefrosh Kathleen P. Da Silva, who was on campus for Visitas, the visiting weekend for prospective students.

“It was a great time,” said Erin D. Drake ’14, who also attended Eleganza during her prefrosh visit last year.

“When you think of Harvard, you don’t think of sexually charged fashion shows,” Drake said.

This year, Drake sat in the V.I.P. section surrounding the runway.

“From the angle in the V.I.P. section, you’re at a party with your friends, but there’s just a half-naked man walking nearby,” she joked. “The people who sat in the V.I.P. section were at a party and a fashion show. The people in the bleachers were just at a fashion show.”

The performances Saturday night also included a high-energy showcase from Ghungroo originally choreographed as a part of the senior dance this year.

The evening also featured an exuberant dance and stepping performance from the Black Men’s Forum Step, a group of Harvard men dedicated to black men’s issues.

Eleganza model Katherine E. Moon ’14 said the performance was as fun to put on as it was to watch.

“We all had a great deal of fun walking and dancing on the runway,” she said. “We never took ourselves too seriously.”

“It’s amazing that such a large-scale production is put together every year for such a great cause,” she said. “[I] feel very lucky to have been given a part in it.”