On Friday, March 1, 2013, Riis Settlement hosted its annual Multicultural Fair at the Queensbridge Gymnasium. The event brought together an array of talented performances, creative art displays, cultural food and desserts, local vendors and more. Local community members came out for the celebration, which turned out to be an incredible night of festivity, collaboration and fun.
Art displays covered the gymnasium wall-to-wall, depicting the talented contributions of our Riis Academy participants, senior citizens, and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students. Riis Academy after-school participants focused on a particular country or region for their artworks. Displays from Africa, Asia, Europe and beyond brought the globe right into Riis Settlement’s home.
Sheila, a third-grade participant at Riis Academy-Ravenswood, was thrilled to share her contribution to the fair. “I had so much fun working on Italy. One thing I learned about Italian culture is that it’s tradition to eat pizza with your family.”
Steven, another 8-year old participant at Ravenswood, said the project inspired him to travel. “I had such a great time working on the project with my friends. We all want to go to Italy one day.”
Community members demonstrated their entrepreneurial skills by setting up tables for food, clothing, artwork, desserts and more.
Performances started off with an innovative dance routine from the Senior Shakers, who shook their hips to Caribbean beats and music. The night continued with cultural songs and dances, musical duets, guitar performances, monologues, fashion shows, comedy acts and martial arts demonstrations. Surely, the audience had plenty to keep them entertained well into the night.
Participants at Riis Academy-P.S. 166 captured the room’s hearts by performing a Bollywood dance for their routine. When asked about their performance, the young ladies replied, “It was so much fun! We jumped around and did all these cool hand movements. We were nervous at first, but now we just want to do it again!”
