Camosun International is in the process of planning and recruiting students for the 15th annual Cultural Showcase on March 21, 2024. The show—to be held at the Lansdowne campus—features international and domestic students performing cultural pieces: dances, songs, poetry, or whatever else students wish to perform.
Camosun International student experience advisor Dana Pankowsky says that planning has begun early this time in hope that students returning home for the holidays will bring back cultural regalia to incorporate into their performances.
“We usually start [planning] in January, but this time we decided to do it earlier, and one of the nice reasons why we’re doing this is because we know our international students, some of them, are visiting their home countries during the holidays and we would like them to bring their outfits, because one of the highlights of the Cultural Showcase is wearing their traditional outfits,” says Pankowsky. “So, some of them may go home and may want to take advantage of that.”
Jayanti Bachani is doing her practicum at Camosun International as the student leader for the Cultural Showcase 2024; she notes that there are plans in place for the next few months to spread awareness of the showcase to students including information on upcoming video auditions.
“Our intention is from here until December is just to warm up and get students acquainted with the information that the Cultural Showcase will be happening soon,” she says. “And then in January we’re going to start giving out information of auditions, and we will be sharing the dates soon. But the auditions will be the same as in previous years, so folks will have the chance to send their videos.”
Bachani says that student volunteers are very important for the event—she says that while they need performers, being a host or a volunteer for the event would make as a great resume booster, as well as a networking opportunity.
“We will be needing performers in different areas: they could dance, sing, they could do some poetry, whatever they want,” Bachani says. “We will also need some hosts, and then, of course, this event also gives the opportunity to students to be volunteers. So in this respect, it’s a great connection, but at the same time learning ground for students to participate not only as performers but also as crew or volunteers.”
Pankowsky says that past Cultural Showcase events have seen a lot of variety in performances and culture, which makes for an all-encompassing and diverse show.
“We’ve had wonderful piano players, we’ve had beautiful dancers from Brazil, for example, we had a very nice group of girls with their mom… dancing to very cheerful Brazilian music,” says Pankowsky. “We also like the fact of having cross-cultural features. For example, we had a Japanese student dancing Hawaiian, which is very interesting as well. So, yeah, you can do whatever you want, the sky’s the limit… and we always try to understand the background. Like, what’s the reason that they chose this specific song or specific dance, what it means to them.”
As in previous years, the Cultural Showcase is being held on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Bachani believes this is important for students to know because the Cultural Showcase is about inclusivity, diversity, and the celebration of other cultures.
“You’ll get the chance to be sharing your cultural heritage and that has to make you feel proud,” says Bachani. “Like, in my case, I’m half Peruvian and half Indian and just thinking about the fact that I could be on stage performing something from India or from Peru would make me really proud. Also… we’re far from home, but we want to connect with our roots and share it with the land that’s currently embracing us, so I feel like that’s the nice connection, also to learn form other cultures.”