The Pan African Student Organization (PASO) will be hosting Africa Night in Alumni Hall  on  March 4, 2011 from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. The goal of Africa night is to highlight many of the different cultures of Africa and raise awareness of African culture within the Gustavus Community and beyond.

The co-chairs, Sophomore Yeabsira Abebe, Sophomore Chemistry Major Fadumo Mire and Senior Economics Major Baffour Appiah-Korang, along with the rest of the planning committee, have been working on this event since the beginning of last semester.

According to those planning the evening, compared to last year, the event will be much bigger in terms of food, performances and anticipated audience. “Apart from the Gustavus community, we are also expecting people from the Minneapolis and St. Paul area to attend. We’re looking forward to having several more people this year than last,” Mire said.

Non-student groups representing the countries of Morocco, Sudan, Ethiopia, Ghana and Ivory Coast will be performing traditional and modern African dances, and there will also be the popular Ghanaian drumming. An addition to Africa Night this year will be a poetry recitation.

Members of PASO will also be performing for the audience. The choreographers of the dances done by PASO are Sophomore Sociology/Anthropology Major Natasha Hercules and First-years Ndeye Sokhna Gueye and Azie Foncha. These choreographers, along with the help of the other dancers, have put together dances for about five songs.

Some of the songs the Gustavus PASO group will be dancing to are “Ku Ku,” “Tchoumakaya,“ “Decaler Chinoix” as well as the famous “Waka Waka.” The dance movements are a fusion of traditional and modern African dance. They symbolize life, power and optimism. African dances also usually involve the participation of the audience. During Africa Night, the audience will get a chance to participate at an interactive session at the end of the performance.

Africa Night will continue to uphold the tradition of a fashion show. Students will parade their traditional wear down the stage in Alumni Hall. The outfits showcased will be from the countries of Eritrea, Senegal, Botswana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Somalia and Ethiopia, to name a few.

During the fasion show, the audience will be informed as to what the outfits are called and what significance particular clothing may carry.

This year there will be a selection of food from the northern, eastern and western parts of Africa.  Some of the dishes are jollof rice, couscous  and  injera with a couple of sauces. There will also be an informational session about the food. People attending the event will get the opportunity to not only eat dishes from the different parts of Africa but also learn about the culture of what they are eating.

Africa Night is a chance for Gustavus students to learn more about the many different cultures in Africa. “I am happy with the growing popularity of this event. Africa Night is not only fun but it creates more awareness about Africa and its vast cultures,” Abebe said.