“Along the Silk Road,” a three-hour educational and entertainment program showcasing examples of art and culture of nations linked to the Silk Road, drew more than 350 people from the Rochester area to the Brighton Campus on April 15. Before the evening program began in the MCC Theatre, attendees enjoyed exhibits of textile, musical instruments, literature and artwork by local residents celebrating their culture. Fatemeh Keshavarz, an author and poet who teaches at Washington University, Mo., was the featured speaker. Music performances were given by local students and by Khorshid Khanoom dance troupe from Montreal, Canada. Dances reflected the cultures of Tibet, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Mongolio, India, Constantinople, Kazakhstan and more. Performers, most in ethnic costumes, played instruments with names like Dombar (string), Darbuka and Jimbey (drums).
The audience members enjoyed the performances so much that they gave a standing ovation to MCC Assistant Professor Shahin Monshipour, who spearheaded the event, and Aram Bayat, the dance troupe’s founder. After the show, people enjoyed nuts, sweets, tea and more dancing in the North Atrium.
Jeremy Case photographed the evening. In the photo at left, attendees admire a Persian rug on display April 15 from the Oriental Rug Mart. In the photo at right, members of the Khorshid Khanoom dance troupe from Montreal, Canada, and the Rochester, N.Y.-based Phoenix Dance Studio perform together in the finale.
The event was sponsored by MCC’s Diversity Council in collaboration with MCC’s Global Education Project, Center for Service-Learning, Chinese Cultural Club, Music Department and Student Music Association; Rochester Institute of Technology’s Kazakh Students Association; Turkish Society of Rochester; School Without Walls in Rochester; and members of Rochester’s Iranian-American, Afghan-American and Pakistani-American communities.
Hency Yuen-Eng
College and Community Relations
04/20/2010
Attachments:
 AlongTheSilkRoad_Exhibits.jpg
AlongTheSilkRoad_Dance.jpg
|