South Carroll became ‘One’ during Unity Day

Thursday, March 29, 2007

South Carroll became ‘One’ during Unity Day

Annual event reflects on cultural history

by Charles Schelle | Staff Writer

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Bill Ryan⁄The Gazette

Students dance to the Reggae Band D.K.G.B. during the Unity Day Concert at South Carroll High School on Friday. The annual event celebrates different cultures.

The late Bob Marley transcended generations at South Carroll High School on Friday as students sang and danced to his music.

Brittany Sigley, president of the Student Government Association, said it was the same way last year, adding that nearly all the students got up and sang along with a reggae band that played the ’60s and ’70s musician’s songs. The sight caused faculty to say that they never saw the school as united as that before.

This year was no different.

Students dressed in blue T-shirts that read ‘‘One” pointed toward the sky and sang during Marley’s ‘‘One Love” by closing act D.K.G.B. and Shacomba Phipps. By the end, a crowd of students rushed to the gym floor to dance in celebration at South Carroll’s second annual Unity Day event.

Unity Day is a day to reflect on and educate people about cultural history through demonstrations of dance, music and more. Sigley said one reason it started last year was that a bullying problem persisted in the school; student organizations and faculty thought Unity Day would be a good way to bring the school together.

‘‘It really shows that students can put on an event that the students enjoy,” Sigley said.

The 2007 Unity Day included Natalia Monteleon and Arte Flamenco, Broto Roy, Kenny Endo, Silk Road Dance Co. and D.K.G.B. and Shacomba Phipps.

Monteleon and Arte Flamenco demonstrated flamenco dancing, a Spanish dance known for its short steps and subtle twists and kicks. Monteleon explained to the audience that in addition to the guitar player, someone claps to keep beat and acts as the drums.

Broto Roy then performed the tabla, which is two drums, an instrument popular in India. He performed with sitar player, Sangay Mishra. Prior to his performance, he shared his appreciation for the event and why it’s important to do events such as Unity Day to fight ignorance.

‘‘It’s up to us, the decent people, to rectify that balance and rival those images,” he said, referring to the violent images by extremists promoting violence.

Silk Road Dance Co. performed synchronized fluid dancing in its silk dresses, tiaras, and headscarves to show off its Middle Eastern traditions. Then Kenny Endo and his ensemble gave a Japanese Taiko performance, which featured a large drum with a thunderous sound.

Students got on their feet for Afro-Caribbean inspired music by D.K.G.B. and Shacomba Phipps. During Buster Poindexter’s ‘‘Hot, Hot, Hot,” a Moko Jumbie danced around the gym.

A Moko Jumbie is a 10- to 15-foot folk character on stilts who ‘‘protected African villagers by striking terror in the hearts of those who threatened evil,” according to the program. Students would dance through his legs as he made his way around the gym.

Within the audience, members of the community and the Carroll County Board of Education attended the afternoon show as well as three representatives from the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives. Last year, representatives from then-Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s office came, which led to a citation recognizing the event and made March 23 Unity Day in Maryland.

Israel Patoka, executive director for the community initiatives office, says the event showed ‘‘what a wonderful sense of community” existed in South Carroll. He said he and the two special assistants will share with O’Malley how well the event was executed and attended and the ‘‘terrific job that Mary Alexander, president of the South Carroll PTA is doing.”

Angela Bernstein, special assistant to the executive director, agreed, adding it is ‘‘really important that at this age, students are exposed to as many different cultures out there as possible.”