The Joyfull invites you to replenish with a meal, a performance, and a conversation
State College residents, students, friends of the university, and anyone else interested in cultural enrichment will have more opportunities this winter to share experiences and dinners with artists from across the nation. Dancers, instrumentalists, and all manner of performing and visual artists join the university in celebrations of multicultural learning and sharing.
The campus-based The Joyfull will return in February and again in March, bringing with it the tradition of artistry and food unique to specific cultures from other continents and nations. The Joyfull series consists of ongoing events that incorporate movement, dance, music, storytelling, and visual art presentations, followed by the sharing of foods from the performers’ ethnic cuisine. The free presentations and meals create a space where individuals from different cultural backgrounds can learn and exchange.
“This is a chance for locals to interact with exciting artists and share food from the visitors’ home,” says Sita Frederick, director of the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State.
With the program in its second year, Frederick facilitates the events, along with volunteer students. Student performances, also drawing from the cultural focus of each scheduled performance, add to the artistry and interconnectedness.
“We wanted to come up with a way to explore ways to bring people together, to celebrate diversity, and raise awareness of food insecurity,” she says.
Catered by Hoag’s Catering, plenty of research goes into the selection, technique, and presentation of the meals, again, with student collaboration, including the addition of Student Farm ingredients.
The series returned for its second year in October. The Joyfull: Feast Edition contortionists, jugglers, and aerial maneuvers will transform the space into a true circus.
“They also use a call-and-response portion and clapping patterns to involve the audience,” Frederick says, “And the food, of course, will follow the artist’s origins.”
In this case, that means West African recipes and culinary techniques. And that will open the door to sharing ideas and thoughts while locals and students chat with those of spotlighted Native American culture with performance and food to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day.
“Hoag’s did a great job of incorporating indigenous ideas about food into what they brought,” Frederick recalls, “Last year they had a French-Moroccan-inspired meal.”
On Feb. 10 at 6 p.m. in Robb Hall in the Hintz Family Alumni Center, featured performers Cirque Kalabanté will present stunts, spins, and all sorts of acrobatics, all intertwined with traditional jewelry, face markings, hairstyles, and regalia.
The Canadian troupe, founded in 2007 and led by founder Yamoussa Bangoura, has earned a reputation for plenty of airborne tumbling, vibrant costumes, and rhythmic jazz. Bangoura hails from Guinea, which adds a powerful influence to the ensemble’s performances. In fact, Bangoura once performed with Cirque du Soleil. The movement, the acrobatic tumbling, balancing, African descent, which brings each moment closer to the organizers’ goals.
“It helps to celebrate diversity and enjoy it,” she says.
Moving on to the presentations in the March installment of the series, Frederick discussed the Fanoos Ensemble, the month’s guest performers from Afghanistan. Playing traditional Afghani music, the quartet features Ahmad Fanoos on vocals and harmonium, his son Elham Fanoos on piano, another son Mehran Fanoos on violin, and Sohali Karimi on tabla.
The table, a type of drum set, collaborates with the Western instruments to forge a connection between the different cultures. With pieces inspired by the 13th-century Sufi-influenced Afghan poet Rumi, the ensemble plays traditional music from their country as well as pieces from their folk heritage. Through sound and photography, the musicians celebrate and share their homeland’s complicated, though rich, history. They share with audiences an experience woven from both the ancient and recent Afghan experience.
“They’re inspired by poetry and images,” according to Frederick, “and they use projections in their performances. But with or without visuals, I’m really moved by their work.”
And of course, performers and attendees will share a meal prepared with ingredients typical of Afghan cuisine, prepared in the Afghan style.
For Frederick, the whole undertaking always circles back to food and its role as a cultural bridge.
She has drawn numerous student organizations to support, lend a helping hand, and encourage outreach to facilitate diversity. Student and local groups involved in the series include the Student Farm, Dance Against Hunger, Centre Safe, the LGBT community, and other organizations dedicated to community well-being.
“We will feed your body and feed your soul,” Frederick says in conclusion. T&G
Anne Dyer Walker is a Bellefonte freelance writer.
