ARTS TUESDAY: Cultural Rhythms to Energize Sanders

Dragons will dance, mariachi sticks will rattle, and dancing skirts are sure to billow at the 2005 Cultural Rhythms production this Saturday. The Harvard Foundation’s annual show will celebrate the cultural diversity of the College in a series of short music and dance sequences that promise to be effervescent.

From Mariachi Veritas to RecKlez, the official Harvard klezmer band, Cultural Rhythms participants represent the gamut of cultural organizations at Harvard College. Foundation intern and co-director Dina L. Maxwell ’06 calls the show Harvard’s “chance to showcase different backgrounds,” explaining that the groups often come to her with their acts completely prepared before formal rehearsals even begin. “We really have very little to do with the magic that actually goes on onstage,” she says.

Despite the fact that Cultural Rhythms performers arrive well-practiced with polished acts, the presentation of the show is no small feat for planners. Indeed, when thirty groups are each given only 5 minutes to astound an audience with a culturally unique style and sophistication, the resulting program runs the risk of incoherence. But one of the responsibilities of the Harvard Foundation directors is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Planning the sequence of acts is important. “We try to vary the acts so we have different energy levels for a good balance,” Maxwell says. “We want to start with something that will be exciting, and get people’s energy up.”

At its core, Cultural Rhythms is a production that most notably succeeds in showcasing the breathtaking diversity of the student body and emphasizing the common accessibility between cultures. In fact, the central theme of “Cultural Rhythms” may be that all cultures—no matter how different—share a love of and tradition of art. Even during rehearsal, it is clear that audiences will be able to tap into the celebratory energy of the show that is buoyed by the sheer spirit of the dancers. The choreography of Cultural Rhythms acts is consistently inventive and natural, making full use of Sanders Theatre’s space. The use of props promises to be equally impressive (especially the use of ribbons by the Asian American Dance Troupe)—and a gigantic, colorful dragon will even make an unexpected appearance during the show.

However, the show’s appeal does not lie merely in its aesthetic assets. Since each piece is so closely tied to the cultural identity of the performers, it is only natural that the performers let some of their personal identity slip into their acts. And perhaps it is the Spoken Word Society’s act that will most explicitly confront and expose the fact that Cultural Rhythms is a production that showcases personal identity. In their performance, they speak out against American consumer culture and the ivory-tower atmosphere of academia that they call “being trapped inside the Harvard walls.”

Niles X. Lichtenstein ’05, a sociology concentrator in Dunster House and one of the leaders of the Society, speaks quietly and passionately about the personal meaning of his performance: “The revolution doesn’t have to be huge, maybe just [as small as] a change in family dynamic.” He said that the inspiration for his work arises from the central question, “How do you find yourself?”

With Cultural Rhythms, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations hopes to encourage students to embrace their own identity. The Foundation also helped organize “Changing the Tide,” this past weekend’s concert for the benefit of the Harvard College Tsunami Relief Effort. The premiere presentation of the Foundation, however, has traditionally been Cultural Rhythms, which the Foundation has been producing almost since its inception.

Not surprisingly, many of the participating cultural organizations have a long history with the program. Xi Wang, an intern with the Foundation, explains, “This is the 20th year of the show, so many of these groups have an established tradition [of participation].”

“Some have been here since the first production,” she remarks. Wang also manages the program’s intercultural food sampling extravaganza, which will be held in the Science Center between the morning and late afternoon presentations of the show.

Another tradition involved in Cultural Rhythms is the unveiling of the Foundation’s choice for Artist of the Year, a prominent performing artist who has displayed noteworthy charitable concern as well as efforts to encourage multiculturalism. In the past, Cultural Rhythms has been hosted by the award recipients and such A-list entertainers as Queen Latifah, Matt Damon, and Will Smith. The artist is hand-selected by Dr. S. Allen Counter, the Director of the Harvard Foundation, from a ranked list of celebrities voted on by student interns. Though the show’s organizers are hesitant to name the identity of the emcee, this year’s list included singer Beyonce Knowles.

But the anticipation of Hollywood stardust at Cultural Rhythms should not outshine the true aims of Cultural Rhythms. As Maxwell says to one of the groups during the show’s rehearsal, “It seems like some of you have a more restrained smile, whereas others are beaming. And personally, I’d rather see beaming.”

—Reviewer Mary A. Brazelton can be reached at mbrazelt@fas.harvard.edu.