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This week features:
HUABJ’s trip to Washington D.C., Hofstra’s School of Communication name change, a story on college debt and an entertainment piece on Rihanna and more.
-Claudia Balthazar, President
“Burlesque dancing is Broadway style, seductive dance with a little flirtation added in.” said Logan Andersen, an 18-year-old, Dance and Civil Engineering major.
And that is generally the view of what modern day burlesque is, thanks to movies like Chicago and Christina Aguilera’s Burlesque.
But burlesque originated as an entertainment dating back to the early 1800s, not as a striptease art form, but as an outlet to satirize the Black community.
“The earliest burlesques were portions of minstrel shows,” said Professor James Kolb, a drama department teacher at Hofstra University. “It was white men in black-face making fun of the way the Black community behaved and it really was some nasty stuff.”
Hofstra University brought the Platanos and Collard Greens! No, I’m not talking about actual food, I’m talking about the play based on David Lamb’s book, “Do Platanos Go Wit’ Collard Greens?”
Hofstra’s Student Government Association, Zarb Black and Hispanic MBA Association, Drama Department, MALIK Fraternity, Division of Student Affairs, NAACP and International (H*INT) all joined forces to bring this play to the Monroe Lecture Hall on November 27th.
Platanos and Collard Greens is a play about two college students—
Freeman played by Gordon Harris and Angelita played by Catherine Familia—forced to acknowledge the racial and cultural prejudices involving their interracial relationship. Freeman is an African-American man and Angelita is a Latino woman, and together they defend their relationship from their peers and parents.
On November 16, Capitol One Bank and Hofstra University Athletics hosted the second annual Pride Fan Fest.
People from all over Long Island came to enjoy the fun and games of the festivities, which included a bounce house, live music from local band Slingshot, and a photo booth to capture all the memories on film; and later that evening the men’s basketball game.
Pride fan fest included many events to get the crowd going, one which was the Student Club Organization Challenge, in which various fraternities, sororities, and other clubs from Hofstra competed for the chance to win $1,000 donated by Capitol One. Registration for the competition was simple; students had to show up to fan fest and sign in indicating their club. The club with the most signatures competed in a free throw shooting contest for the $1,000 grand prize. Delta Phi Epsilon ended up being the lucky winner of a competitive fun-filled night.
IMANI Perfomers at VIbe Live on Sept. 29 2012 Photo by Claudia Balthazar
Hofstra University held their annual Vibe Live concert this past Saturday.
There were acts such as KC and The Sunshine Band, Cobra Starship, Big Sean and Snoop D-O-Double G. As usual, Hofstra brought the entertainment and the crowd brought the energy, but there was a slight difference this year. Hofstra’s very own Hip Hop/African dance ensemble, IMANI, got to perform an eight-minute routine on the big stage. It was also Imani’s 40th anniversary, being founded in 1972.
In the past, the Vibe Live concert only allowed student performances from Hofstra’s dance or cheer team, but IMANI was asked to perform this year after their talents were clearly noticed in their winter blast concert last year. President of IMANI, Camille Cruz, says “performing in the Vibe Live Concert was a great honor for IMANI. The concert is such a big event and we were excited when we were asked to perform.”
During the 54thGrammy Awards Chris Brown received an award for Best R&B album and performed twice. I’m sure no one has forgotten about Brown’s violent incident with pop singer Rihanna. The incident happened three years ago on the eve of the Grammys. Country singer Miranda Lambert tweeted from her seat,
“Not cool that we act like that didn’t happen. He needs to listen to gunpowder and lead and be put back in his place. Not at the Grammys…How dang long did they give Nicki Minaj to do whatever that was? Strange. And Chris Brown twice? I don’t get it. He beat on a girl…”
Since that incident, Brown has taken court-mandated anger management, and is currently on probation until 2014. He apologized on multiple occasions and Rihanna has stated that she has forgiven him and they are now following each other on Twitter.
Before
After
After Jamaican artist Elephant Man was arrested on pending rape charges Monday, Hofstra University promptly announced that New York-based rapper Fat Joe will be the replacement headliner for Saturday’s campus event entitled “Mardival”.
The event, which is a part of the school’s “Winter Blast” weekend designed to welcome students back for spring semester, will feature rides, games, and traditional Cajun and Caribbean food. Music will be spun by DJ Norie with performances by Hofstra’s Imani Dance Ensemble and the Sugar Tone Brass Band.
But with all these exciting attractions, it is clear that talk of the Elephant Man controversy on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook still cloud the event. Here’s hoping Fat Joe can deliver a performance worthy of top billing and make us forget his last minute “replacement” status.
-Sidney Madden
HofstraUABJ 