The 16th annual African event Afroganza was held on Thursday, April 21 in the Arnold Bernard Center (ABC) in Merten’s Theater. “I Am Africa” was the name of the show this year. The cocktail hour began at 7 p.m. in which African food was served, and the show followed an hour later.
“The food was wonderful,” Ekeme Ndubuisi, 25, from Yonkers, NY said, “I loved it.” Ndubuisi had Ghanaian cuisine such as waakye [rice and beans], joll of rice, egusi [seed based dish], and shito [hot black pepper sauce].
The first part of “A Taste of Africa” was the presentation of the flags from all sorts of African and Caribbean countries, such as Barbados, Ghana, Haiti, and Jamaica. Following the flags was the Royal Court, an African themed ceremony where Josephine Manu and Daniel Kwakyeh, President and Vice President of ASA, were recognized.
The show was hosted by Junior Duanecia Evans and Visitor Blessing N. (who stated his Nigerian heritage). They proudly announced that ASA was awarded UB’s cultural club of the year, during the 2011 Student Leadership Recognition Banquet earlier that day.
Starting the show was Guest Speaker Daphnie Bruno, who said, “You [the audience] are the strongest of the strong; that’s why you are here.”
F.L.O.H [Future Leaders of Hip-Hop] proved that dance is all about expression, while dancing in African colored tutus to Lion King’s “He Lives in You.”
“I loved F.L.O.H’s dance the most,” Freshman Giovanna Jones said. “It was so intense.”
“Our roots run deep, and our blood is strong,” Performer Wakillah Coassange said, as she recited a poem titled, “From my Ancestor’s Eyes.”
Following that, a drum special, and a Greek unity show, which included all of UB’s Greeks.
“I wanted the show to exhibit unity, which was displayed in the Greek show,” Manu said.
Manu, who is of Ghanaian descent, said that she loves all cultures, but loves everything about African culture.
“I’m most proud that our people are very welcoming and friendly,” she said.
After the intermission, a slide show was exhibited of African city views, which exhibited “the places they don’t show you.” Even Jones was surprised that Africa had highways.
Scene One, “Jungle Fever” featured models who didn’t model fashion, but body paintings by Alicia Cobb. Most models were African animals such as the zebra, giraffe, cheetah, tiger and peacock. Following that was a dance performance by “Outta Control Dance Crew” that provided a modernized dance routine.
In Scene Two, “Kozby’s World,” by Kozby, from Nigeria, started the fashion section of the show. This attire was more on the traditional and conservative side and featured white lace, and glitter, along with African print dresses, blue tights, and a tweed jacket, to silk and a corset.
“Decree,”by Charmaine Dubose opened up Scene Three, which featured a more sensual sense of style where wedge heels, and more African prints were noticed.
Scene Four introduced “B-Chris” which demonstrated club-type attire and included a lot of black. Neighborhood Studios of Fairfield County then performed to Akon music.
“Kreatif Designs,” by Tosin O. began Scene Five featuring child models and also included more African prints.
The Tribal/Swimwear, for the final scene, exhibited men with African-type skirts, in which they would perform a short African dance at the end of their catwalk. Wrapping up the show was University of New Haven’s step team.
“Now I have an appreciation for the African culture much more,” Jones said.
“The whole reason for doing the show was to reach out to the community and getting them involved and to create diversity,” Manu said, “, but it’s important to show your heritage.”