West Windsor Township Human Relations Council and West Windsor Plainsboro African-American Parent Support Group present “Celebrate West Windsor’s Cultural Diversity: Dance and Music” on Saturday, March 5, from 1 to 4 p.m. at High School South. The multicultural dance and music program to celebrate the diverse backgrounds of West Windsor residents is free. Light refreshments will be served during the intermission.
Members of the West Windsor Human Relations Council include Barbara Edmonds, chairperson, Fatima Aziz, Jenny Lee, Negela Moaddeb, Richard Pizzo, Savin Roman, Razia Sayed, and Victor Stein. Member who are coordinating and emcees at the event include Kalyani Tallapragada, Firoozeh Vali, Elizabeth von Autenried, and Paul von Autenried Jr.
This family-oriented event will feature a wide variety of dance and music professionals, amateurs, and students sharing art forms from their culture. “More than 90 performers are sharing their talents and diversity with the community,” says Elizabeth von Autenried, an advisor on the Human Relations Council, a co-organizer of the event.
John Roeder of West Windsor opens the performance section of the program by playing the accordion and singing “America the Beautiful.”
Other musical acts include theGarden State Slide Trombone Ensemble with High school South juniors Ethan Julius, Varun Hegde, and Benjamin Zhu. Yang Yi Guzheng Academy Ensemble’s West Windsor and Plainsboro performers include Hannah Jin, Diana Sun, and Jennifer Zhang. Yang Yi is a West Windsor resident. The Persian Classical Music Group features West Windsor residents Ahmad Esmi on the santour (Persian hammered dulcimer) and Rebecca Esmi on vocals.
WW-P High School South Class of 2012 String Quartet will feature violin players Harrington Lee and Grace Ro, both West Windsor residents; Paul von Autenried Jr. on cello; and Plainsboro resident Victoria Wang on viola.
Emily Shapcott, a third grade student at Dutch Neck Elementary School and a New Jersey Orator member, will deliver selections by Phyllis Wheatly at the event. The New Jersey Orator organization was established more than 25 years ago by a group of African American executives determined to expand the public speaking skills and abilities of young people.
A Chinese Yo Yo act will be presented by High School South seniors Jun-Sun Ahn, Ben Hong, Matthew Lee, and Mallory Wang.
Dance Corner performers include Elise Burton, Courtney Kobus, Alexis Federico, Alexa Rubin, Amanda Kowalski, Casey McElroy, Jordan Polefka, and Jamie Kobus. Roni Wilityer and Amy DeCesare are owners and directors of the Dance Corner, based in West Windsor.
Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance’s West Windsor and Plainsboro performers include Harini Srinivasan, Kiruthika Devasenapathy, Nikita Subbiah, Shreya Raghuraman, Vijayeeta Ramesh, Varna Kodoth, and Smithi Srinivasan. Kalanjali School of Dance present a Bhumro performance featuring a Kashmiri folk dance. West Windsor dancers include Isha Patlola and Kavya Tummalapalli.
Underscore performs Chinese modern dance at the event. Plainsboro dancers include Olivia Hu, Andrew Lee, and Yeonjoo Park. West Windsor dancers are Robert Goldhirsch, Paul Lee, Jessica Lee, Jaime Chen, Alison Chinsee, Susan Im, and Lauren Louie.
Sunita Raj’s India Aangan Bollywood Dance Studio perform at the event. Raj, a resident of Plainsboro, teaches through the West Windsor Recreation Department. Dance Team 1 features ages 4 to 7 year-old dancers from West Windsor including Akash Lal, Anant Matta, Anushka Chintamaneni, Darsh Srikant, Dhruv Srikant, Pooja Challi, Sanjita Karthikeyan, and Ved Karamsetty. Dance Team 2 with West Windsor residents ages 8 to 12 includes Anjali Bhatia, Ashini Patel, Julia Mao, Rajat Khurana, and Vinayak Patel. Aangan Dance Team 3 features adult dancers Deepali Shastri, Neeti Kohli, and Sejal Kapadia.
“Our township continues to lead by example by using multicultural programs as another avenue to create the beloved community so critical in these times to help us better understand and appreciate each other,” says Barbara Edmonds, human relations council chairperson.
— Lynn Miller
Multi-Cultural Festival, West Windsor-Plainsboro African American Parent Support Group, High School South, 346 Clarksville Road, West Windsor. Saturday, March 5, 1 to 4 p.m. Refreshments served at intermission. Free.
