International Fest, more commonly known as IFest, is a celebration of diversity and unity. Students connect through culture as they create and learn a dance that encapsulates their heritage.
There will be two night performances at Carl Sandburg High School’s Performing Arts Center, starting at 5:00 pm and 7:00 pm on February 13, as well as a school day performance on the February 14. This year there are a total of fourteen groups performing, taking audiences all around the world.
The African IFest group is split into five sections, each representing different parts of Africa. Adunola Ogedengbe says, “Music and dance are an integral part of African societies and we hope to be able to tell a story through our dances.”
This story is told through the various styles in their performance. The first dance is West African, incorporating the two Nigerian tribes Yoruba and Igbo. The dance focuses on waist movement as students wear colorful George wrappers. The second dance is a Mauritius Sega dance from East Africa. Here, students wear Sega skirts with flowers and bright colors. South Africa is represented in the third dance with amapiano music and more complex footwork. Outfits for this dance are made of Ankara fabric and include feathers, a symbol of royalty in South African Zulu culture. The fourth dance is focused on Central Africa and includes an emphasis on hip movement similar to that of the West African dance. The final dance is done to Afro-modern music.
The African American IFest group’s segment begins with an all-girls majorette dance, followed by a collection of step dances. Hip-Hop dances and the Haitian Kompa dance style are also featured in their performance. The group will be dancing to very upbeat and modern music, by artists such as Kendrick Lamar. As for clothing, everyone is wearing black pants and a jersey. “A jersey is a representation of pride and connects us to the sports and music in our culture,” said Sahara Dagon, a senior in the African American IFest group.
The Belarus IFest group features both traditional music and modern music by Belarusian artists. The music is happy and energetic, and the dances “are fast, exciting, and melodic, much like the language and the people,” says Kaitlyn Massey. Massey is currently a leader of Belarus IFest group, and she learned much of what she knows about her culture from the previous year. This year, they are doing traditional social dances that are usually done at parties, and they are showcasing Belarus’s flags and colors in their costumes.
This is the first year for the Brazilian IFest group, and they are presenting a combination of traditional and modern dance styles. They have learned samba and quadrilha, a traditional line dance done for the holiday Festa Junina. Their modern dances are done to the recognizable songs “Ai Se Eu Te Pego” and “Balada.”
This display of Brazil through dance is very fitting, according to Marina Blanc. As a leader of the Brazilian IFest group, she says that the dance is everywhere in Brazil. “On the street you’ll see dancing, at parties you’ll see dancing, at traditional holidays you’ll see dancing, like Festa Junina.” Stemming from that idea, the costumes are meant to replicate Brazilian streetwear. Students are dancing in white sneakers, jean shorts, and a shirt or jersey that says “Brazil.” The group itself is very diverse, with the two leaders being the only Brazilians in the group, but even so, that shows the diversity of Brazil. “I think that’s the most Brazilian part of Brazilian IFest, that we’re so diverse,” says Blanc.
The Tinikling dance is the star of the Filipino IFest performance, with traditional, modern, and senior variations. Two long sticks are used, with dancers stepping in and out of them. It’s a very traditional dance, and so a traditional outfit called a Filipiniana will be worn. For the girls, this features a top with large shoulders covered in floral patterns. As for the boys, this is a button-up shirt with traditional Filipino designs. “Hip hop is really popular in the Philippines,” says Gaby Gomez, a member of the Filipino IFest group, explaining that the modern portion of the dance is heavily influenced by hip hop.
The dances that Greek IFest are performing come from various regions of Greece, and tend to be more traditional, as the modernity of the performance comes through with the song choices. The seniors in the group are doing Ikariotiko, which orginates from the Greek island Ikaria. Another featured folk dance is Kalamatiano, which originated in Kalamata. Most of these dances are done in synchronicity, holding hands or shoulders in a circle or line.
Ellie Shizas, a junior in Greek IFest, says, “[it] kind of represents Greek unity, how everyone’s there to pick each other up.” Following a similar idea as Brazil, costumes resemble what people in Greece would wear in the summer. Girls are wearing a white long-sleeved romper that is meant to represent the white blouse of a traditional girls’ outfit called Amalia, paired with a blue skirt symbolizing the waters of Greece. Also, everyone has red velvet jackets with gold embroidery to represent the blood of the Greek revolution and symbolize the good luck of wearing gold jewelry in Greek culture.
The Indo-Pak group includes those of Indian and Pakistani heritage, as there is a lot of shared culture. This year, they begin with an all girls dance and transition to the all boys dance, a very high-energy dance known as bhangra. There is another of each, culminating in a final dance with everyone. The girls’ dance and the group dance are choreographed in more of a Bollywood style, in contrast to the very traditional bhangra. Aashvi Kothadia, a senior leader, said that girls wear a lehenga, “which is a traditional outfit you could wear in modern India.” Lehengas typically include a long skirt, a fitted top, and a dupatta, which is a shawl. Boys wear a kurta or sherwani, which includes pants and a long-sleeved tunic.
The Irish IFest group includes several types of the jig, an Irish dance, which range in difficulty and pace. Every student in the Irish group is performing a different style of jig with different songs, some faster or slower than others, representing how big of a range there is in Irish dance and even music. At the very end of their performance the students shout ¨Erin Go Bragh,¨ meaning “Ireland Forever,” which is a very famous Irish saying. Students wear Irish jerseys, black leggings, and traditional poodle socks worn with black ballet shoes. Traditional Irish dance dresses are brought out to show off traditional Irish dance dresses worn at a Feiss, professional Irish dance contests and shows.
Delaney Johnson, a senior, says, ¨It’s so interesting and unique to hear about the different experiences everyone has in their cultures, but honestly, it’s so fun to learn about it and really makes you a better educated person.¨
The Italian group’s performance includes two traditional dances as well as a more modern one. Tarantella is the traditional style of dance, featured in an individual and group dance. Usually, this dance is performed at weddings. The modern dance then incorporates more trending Italian music. Grace Pittacora, one of the leaders, talked about how creating a welcoming and friendly environment seemed to embody the “togetherness” of Italian culture, especially when making the dance. “I feel like everyone in my group was choreographing together,” she says. As for costuming, rather than donning traditional outfits, the group opts for shirts with the Italian flag on them.
The Latino Ifest group incorporates many Latin American cultures in their group and dances. There are a total of eight parts choreographed from Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Columbian, Cuban, Mexican, and Aztec roots. For example, there is an Aztec dance to live music. “There’s little shells on our ankles, and then we have a headpiece and they have real peacock feathers,” said Caesar Gaytan, a leader for the Latino IFest group. Folklórico, a traditional Mexican dance, begins the performance, and has been used to represent a specific Mexican state, as it is specific for each region. This year the state of San Luis Potosí is represented, and everyone is wearing white. Students also wear cowboy hats and boots.
This year, the Middle East group for Ifest is doing a traditional dance called Dabke. The dance is interpreted in many different ways depending on the country. Dabke has boys and girls separated into two lines; students jumping and stomping on stage and then transitioning into their second dance, Dahiya. Dahiya involves students clapping as they take turns performing tricks in pairs. Students going down the line of clappers are having their moment and as Jowahir Abusaad, a junior, said, ¨[Dahiya] forces people to get together despite knowing who they are or not. It just shows you how our culture brings people together no matter what.¨ Steps in their dance represent symbols, such as their stomping which represents power with their jumps. However, in certain parts, there are solo moments, with someone leading.
Their clothes are very simple and consist of all-black clothing with white shoes, but they also have scarves that wrap around their head. These scarves, called Keffiyeh, have a variety of designs on them. The designs are specific to each country, and use symbols and patterns to represent specific aspects of that country.
The Polish performance begins with a traditional dance, Góralski, which is from the Highlander mountain region in southern Poland. For this part, girls wear traditional floral skirts, and boys wear traditional hats. Then, there is a polka, characterized by a large amount of hopping. These first two dances are more traditional, followed by two more modern styles of dance, disco polo, and jumpstyle. “In the moment, when you’re dancing to disco polo, it’s not really choreographed,” said Julianna Skowronski, as the style is mostly seen at parties. This portion is split into a freshman-sophomore and junior-senior portion. Finally, there is jumpstyle dance, which includes much jumping and kicking. Throughout the performance, students will wear kierpce, a Polish dance shoe, and a group shirt with the eagle from Poland’s flag printed on it.
South Korean culture is seen largely through this group’s performance of a traditional fan dance, called Buchaechum. Girls wear traditional Korean hanboks and use fans with flowers and pink feathers on them. Kyra Sears says, “More recently especially, many aspects of Korean culture have been popularized, like the music, food, and shows, and I feel like the traditional dance lets people see more sides to our culture than just what’s shown through social media.” For example, hanboks have been worn for centuries and are seen at all sorts of celebrations. However, they also explore a more popularized part of Korean culture in their K-pop dance. Hannah Oh, the senior leader for the South Korean IFest group, says she feels that “K-pop has become such a huge thing for the recognition of what South Korea has really become.”
The Ukrainian group focuses their performance on the traditional aspects of their culture. Music featuring the bandura or kobza, which are folk instruments, are connected to Ukrainian history, and hopak and polka dances are more traditional. These dances are very expressive and energetic, full of pride and joy. This brightness continues in the wearing of vyshyvanka, which are vividly embroidered shirts, and vinok, which are flower crowns. Karina Prysiazhna wrote about how all of these elements “celebrate the strength, resilience, and unity of the Ukrainian people.”
Through IFest, students learn and recognize and appreciate their own culture, as well as others. Bisan Naji, a junior, said, “I think it’s really cool to have the opportunity to be walking through other cultures.” This is especially true the week of performance, where every group gets to experience the work of other cultures and groups. Community is strong within each group, but it also extends outside of it.
Hannah Oh said, “You’re celebrating your own culture, while I’m celebrating mine; we’re all very prideful of who we are, and we all have the sense of identity in ourselves that this is who we are and we’re proud to show who we are because of that.”
There is a connection and commonality in this celebration and pride in Sandburg’s diversity. “That’s something we’re very much about in Brazil,” said Marina Blanc, “celebrating everyone’s culture and uniting in it.”
Here at Sandburg, students can be a part of a community where they feel seen and safe. Every group that performs is proud to be on stage and to share their culture with their peers.
Sandburg is home to a diverse group of students, all with different stories, but IFest creates unity and understanding. It doesn’t matter what club a student is in or their interests in Sandburg because IFest is a club that celebrates what every student at Sandburg has: culture.
