The Geneseo community welcomed a new cultural dinner on Sunday April 21 with a sold-out audience.
The academic student organizations of the department of languages and literatures – Slavic Club, La Casa Hispánica (Spanish Club), Le Cercle Français (French Club) and Deutscher Verein (German Club) – united to celebrate European cultures in the first Eurofest.
Like other cultural dinners, Eurofest featured delectable cuisine and entertainment throughout the evening. Each aspect was included to demonstrate “that there is a European community on campus,” Slavic Club President junior Krzysztof Szafranski said.
Senior Louis Lohraseb opened the evening with classical piano music – something that European countries experienced in their history, according to Szafranski. While guests were digging into their dinners, the Geneseo String Band filled the College Union Ballroom with sounds influenced by the Dutch, Irish and Swiss.
The buffet-style dinner offered seven main dishes and two desserts, including crepes with asparagus and hollandaise sauce, goulash and pain au chocolat.
Eurofest stands out from the other annual cultural events, though, with faculty participation, as well as audience involvement.
Associate professor of history David Tamarin, his wife Pakita Vicente-Tamarin and associate professor of Spanish Rose McEwen incorporated flamenco elements in a traditional petenera,“El café de Chinitas.” Tamarin played guitar, while Vicente-Tamarin added the cante, or song, and handclaps. McEwen complemented the performance with baile (dance) and castañuelas (castanets).
“It’s one thing to come, but to actually say, ‘Oh I did the flamenco like 20 years ago’ that [McEwen] did, and she was willing to come here and do it just for us and ask for nothing in return,” Spanish Club President senior Kevin Marriott said.
“Our department is so talented, so unbelievably talented and I don’t think the students get to see it enough,” French Club President senior Katie Comando said.
Other faculty showed support by attending the event. Department Chair and associate professor of Spanish Lori Bernard, associate professor of German and adviser of German Club and Slavic Club Cynthia Klima, professor of French and Western Humanities and adviser of French Club Beverly Evans, adjunct instructor of Chinese Jasmine Tang and teaching assistant in Spanish Rocío Romero Catalá each made appearances at Eurofest.
Let’s Dance Rochester showcased three pairs of waltz dancers in the final performance of the evening. After four demonstrations, alumnus John Stanton ‘62 invited the remaining guests on their feet to learn basic waltz steps.
The academic language organizations hope to continue Eurofest as an annual tradition, Comando said. With plans to collaborate with international relations and geography students and faculty in future years, Comando said, “This is just a starting point.”