Entertainment and education are combined with native music and dance. This artistic and cultural exhibition was the highlight of the 2015 SoulFest at ASU's Downtown campus on Wednesday. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)Civic Space Park across from the Downtown campus is usually calm, with people sitting in clusters here and there.
On Tuesday night, however, the park was full of lively entertainment. Native dancers and inspirational speakers took to the stage as the Black African Coalition hosted "SoulFest" to celebrate Black History Month.
As the night began, red, yellow and green lights created a background resembling the African flag. Each dancer was charming and talented, delighting the crowd with their native African style band.
They were interactive with the audience and even invited everyone to come up to the front of the stage within the park to learn how to dance the unique moves they had perfected. A decent size crowd excitedly joined.
In addition to the native dancers, a powerful speaker, who the DJ introduced as “Truth B. Told,” performed spoken word poetry that dazzled the crowd.
He started with a poem that encouraged every listener to follow their own personal aspirations, before divulging into a poem that nodded toward female empowerment.
He brought up Dove and Twitter’s current campaign, #SpeakBeautiful, before telling the crowd “makeup don’t make you.”
The crowd greatly appreciated the personal feel that radiated from his performance. It was as if he was talking to each audience member individually.
The crowd takes a turn on stage as an impromptu lesson in traditional African dance is given by the dance troupe. This interactive artistic and cultural experience was just one of the many treats enjoyed by attendees of the 2015 SoulFest at ASU's Downtown campus on Wednesday. (J. Bauer-Leffler/The State Press)Arianna Cannady, public service and public policy junior and co-chair of BAC, said the organization's main goal was to celebrate Black History Month, as well as highlight African culture.
She said the group's monthly events are usually in Tempe, but BAC brought "SoulFest" downtown to show its presence on another campus.
Communications sophomore and head of BAC planning committee Zhane Vincent helped put together the event.
“We wanted to do something that was inspirational for all students," she said.
With the event's warm atmosphere and amazing speakers, Vincent's goal was accomplished with ease.
Nursing freshman Amber Noline wanted to learn about different cultures by attending the event.
“I wanted to learn more about the culture," she said. "I heard about the dancers and wanted to learn about the tradition.”
It was clear to see that each attendee had a fantastic time at the event. BAC did a brilliant job incorporating African culture into the festivities as well as creating an inspirational environment.
The organization's efforts to celebrate Black History Month in an exceedingly fun way was commendable, to say the least.
Any comments? Tell the reporter at dpharias@asu.edu or follow @dpharias on Twitter.
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