Carlmont’s annual Heritage Fair was celebrated on March 2, allowing students of different cultures and backgrounds to embrace their heritage through a series of performances. The entire fair consisted of dancing, music, and food, courtesy of Carlmont’s culture clubs and performance groups.
The event was also led by Carlmont’s Associative Student Body (ASB). ASB produced a trailer to promote the fair and introduce the theme of the event which was inspired by “Indiana Jones” films.
To kick off the fair, Indian Club danced to Bollywood music in colorful and patterned traditional Indian clothing. Enya Lou-Wimmer, a senior in Indian Club, explained how the group prepared for the performance.
“We had rehearsals every Sunday for two hours and we had Asha, one of our members, choreograph everything,” Lou-Wimmer said.
Lou-Wimmer’s favorite part of the event was after her clubs’ performance.
“We all felt accomplished and the adrenaline rush made it really fun,” Lou-Wimmer said.
Following Indian Club, other cultural clubs demonstrated their performances. Aloha Club danced to Hawaiian music in hula skirts and leis. The Chinese Culture Club performed yo-yo tricks and wore red, a lucky color in Chinese culture. Also, the Latinos Unidos danced in flowy and colorful skirts.
Having cultural representation is so important because you see things that you haven’t seen before and you get an understanding of the people around you and just the world in general.
— Marguerite Fields
“It’s important to expose students to different cultures and how they can bond through dancing and it’s fun for everyone to come together and see these performances,” Lou-Wimmer stated.
Kung fu and taekwondo skills were also demonstrated in a choreographed battle between Ryan Ng and Michael Yi. During the performance, the flags of China and South Korea flew in the air demonstrating the students’ pride in their cultures.
In addition to the culture clubs, Swing Club performed partner dancing and step dances that they had learned throughout the school year. The club has been practicing since August and had been working on their dance on Saturdays.
The president of Swing Club and a member of the Aloha Club, Marguerite Fields, explained how the Swing Club prepared.
“It is all student-run, so we have a council of five members and we made the choreography in the summertime. We have a shared google drive so we can put videos of the dances in the drive, and then we taught everyone our step tricks,” Fields said.
On the sidelines of where the performances took place was Carlmont’s band. The band often performs during assemblies to provide spirit, but this assembly also included a performance by the jazz band. Students played upbeat tunes and some students played solos to show off the talent they had gained throughout the year.
Claire Taggart is a senior in Carlmont’s band and has been in the band since freshman year. Being next to the stage, she had a front-row seat to the fair.
“My favorite performance was the tap dance,” Taggart said.
Taggart enjoyed the fair and felt it was an entertaining way to represent people of different heritages.
“Having this fair definitely gives the people with those cultures a chance to be represented and show it through different dances or music,” Taggart said.
