By Alyssa Opdyke
This Thursday, if you were to walk into the McGinley Center between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m., you were likely to smell a variety of foods, hear lots of laughter and conversation and most notably, hear a variety of music — ranging from Irish step music, to soulful India Arie to the party starter music of Fetty Wap himself.
What was the source of all of this entertainment? ASILI, The Black Student Alliance at Fordham, hosted its third annual Taste The World cultural event in the McGinley Ballroom on Oct. 22. Here, numerous cultural and performing groups, including members of ASILI, Slaínte, The Ramblers, Satin Dolls, B-Sides and Hot Notes as well as individual performers, shared in both musical and dance performance over a comfort food dinner of macaroni and cheese, fried plantains, rice and fried chicken.
There were a number of highlights present throughout the night. Both B-Sides and the jazz-focused Hot Notes, co-ed a capella groups on campus, opened the night of performances with a variety of songs. Additionally, Adanze Unaegbu sang a stunning rendition of India Arie’s “I Am Not My Hair,” discussing the issue of external versus internal beauty through song and was concluded with major applause. The Satin Dolls, Fordham’s all-female a capella group, entertained the crowd with a variety of songs ranging from singer-songwriter to the biggest surprise of the night: a very crowd-pleasing and sing-and-rap-along performance of Fetty Wap’s “679,” led by Sahana Holla, Jessica Mannino and Laura Villaraut.
The night then transitioned to dance-focused performances. The dance segment opened up with Flava, Fordham’s hip hop dance troupe, who performed a very tight and enthralling routine to a number of rap and hip hop songs. Up next was Expressions Dance Alliance, Fordham’s inclusive dance company, whose Beyoncé dance medley was met with universal praise from the event’s large crowd. Slaínte, Fordham’s Irish dance company, shared Irish culture through both soft and hard shoe Irish dance, encouraging the crowd to clap along to their routines. The last of the group performers, Fordham’s all male-a capella group, Ramblers, performed a variety of tunes, ranging from Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” to Starland Vocal Band’s and Anchorman favorite “Afternoon Delight.” The night closed out with a performance by Hans Lueders, FCRH ’16 and ASILI co-president, who rapped an original song.
Fordham’s overall reaction to the event was overwhelmingly positive. Maddy Sulla, FRCH ’16, commented, “Taste The World is always one of my favorite Fordham events because I feel like it really brings us together as a community to embrace and celebrate our differences, which is really important given the recent incidents on campus.” Katie Melz, FCRH ’16, agreed: “It was a lot of fun! All the performers did an amazing job. They were very moving and the performances were well done! And the food was great!”
Danielle Rowe, FCRH ’16, co-president of ASILI, was also very pleased with the turnout and performances at the event. Rowe commented, “I think everyone on e-board was incredibly happy with how the event turned out — I know I definitely am. Every year, we are stunned at how many people actually turn out for the event, and also just the quality of the performances. I’m really happy with how the show turned out and we couldn’t have done it without our amazing e-board putting in so many hours of hard work, the people in Office of Student Involvement, Sodexo and of course all the amazing performers who are always stoked to perform for us.”
As for the future of the event? Rowe said, “This is definitely going to continue to be an annual thing. We’re actually talking about expanding the event and looking into getting the Lombardi Field House at the rate we’re going.” Sulla agreed: “I’ll miss the community aspect of it and the fun of the performances. And, of course, the food.”
