By: Marleena Banks
AECH’s Black Student Union hosted its first-ever showcase. This showcase consisted of 9 Acts performed by black students in different genres of performance. This was put together by the entirety of BSU, Ms, Tori, and with the help of Mrs. Keaton. A special shout out to the President of BSU, Lynette Scrutching, and Ms. Tori who helped bring it all together so it could run smoothly.
Imani McCulloh and Qi’Marreon Marks were the MCs for the day. They both did a very good job at each introduction and backstory of all the acts. Especially Qi-Marreon who stalled while I was changing before my last act. The very first act of the show was Lynette, she performed a beautiful rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Lately. Lynette did an excellent job singing, what a wonderful tribute. Next Act was AECH’s Elite Sisters Hip Hop group. AECH’s Hip Hop team includes Kennedy Gaines, Kaysie Anderson, Princess Ripley, Lydia Scrutchings and De’Moni Dobson. They performed a remix of different popular hip-hop songs from the last two decades. I was excited to see them perform on stage after weeks of rehearsal. It was a small step into Black hip-hop culture. After their dance, Samara Hampton read a poem by Maya Angelou titled Phenomenal Woman. The poem mainly focused on inner self-confidence as well as outer confidence. Samara did a great job with articulation and delivery when speaking. AECH’s Elite Sisters Lyrical team performed after her poem. Lilli Bitecofer, Alba Mastromatteo, Princess Ripley, Kaysie Anderson, and Elena Gomez danced to Overwhelmed by Chloe x Halle. A short, yet sweet dance well put together by their team. After their dance, Tersoo Iordaah read a spoken word poem. The writer of the poem and the name of the poem will remain anonymous but it was such an empowering poem by the author. Tersoo’s delivery was perfect, he left pauses so the audience could let the words sink in for a bit. AECH’s Elite Sisters Jazz Team danced to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. This team includes Lilli Bitecofer, Elena Gomez, Princess Ripley, Callie Wade, Alba Mastromatteo, and Marleena Banks, I also performed in this dance, I think our team did pretty well after a couple of setbacks with other practices, scheduling conflicts, etc, etc. Gione did a speech as well, a spoken word poem-hoo. The poem was titled Aftermath by Claude Mckay. He did a remarkable job during his reciting. De’Moni Dobson did a contemporary dance to Stand Up by Cynthia Erivo. If you didn’t know, this was Harriet’s closing song that came out in 2019. Lydia and I created an acrylic portrait collage to fit the theme of the dance. Stand Up is a song about freedom. Supporting your fellow people and continuing on your journey. The collage included different POC hands handing her flowers that made up her afro. It’s all about supporting one another and contributing to our common goal instead of tearing each other down. We painted on stage and displayed the artwork for the entire audience to see once De’Moni finished performing. Our last and final act was Majorette Team, this act made me really feel like I was attending an HBCU event. Avryl Glover, Dejhay Sellers, Alana V, Janay Primm, Amani Mosley, Syheira Floyd, and Taniya Griffin. Their moves were so clean and precise and every single person got to have a special spotlight on their dance. I think this one was most beloved by the crowd and a fantastic way of ending our show.
Thank you to all the acts who performed at the showcase this year. Hopefully, next year we can be even bigger and better. Although a couple of us are graduating, fingers crossed we can possibly find the time to come back and help the underclassmen carry on the BSU legacy.
Comments