For this edition of Humans of Hinsdale Central, we decided to cover three different groups who performed unique and diverse dances at Ethnic Fair on Friday, April 13. Here’s a look at some of the students who represented their culture at the annual event:

Palestine 

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“I decided to participate because this is my last year at the high school, and I wanted to do something fun and exciting to end the year nicely. I also really embrace the culture, and I enjoy getting an understanding of people’s cultures and what their traditions are like.”

How did the dance come to be? 

“The people who choreographed the dance were Ramzi [Rimawi] and Elias [Ostertag]. They were the ones who put in the work with all the choreography and the order of moves. We took traditional dance moves from YouTube and other parts that are a part of dabke, and we combined it into a form that we were able to present to the crowd.”

~Kaidi Hu, senior

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“After seeing my cultural Palestinian dance being done at so many events during my childhood, I was inspired to take it to the next level. The Ethnic Fair was a good opportunity for me to gather up a couple of my friends and try performing it in front of a lot of people.”

What’s the deeper meaning behind the dance? Where does it originate?

“The dance is the dabke. We did this as a traditional Arabic folk dance that was passed on from generation to generation in the Middle East. I think that us deciding to show the dance, especially in the United States, really shows everyone’s solidarity with Palestine. Although I may not be in the Middle East anymore, we are still continuing the tradition.”

~Ramzi Rimawi, senior

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“One day, Kaidi, Ramzi and I were in lunch together, and Ramzi showed us a great song, and we started dancing to it. We learned a lot about the culture and the traditional dances. We really enjoyed our time together, so we decided to join Ethnic Fair.”

How long did the Ethnic Fair process take? How many weeks did you have to practice before the event? 

“We started our practice months ago. At the beginning, we started practicing once a week every Thursday after school. Later on, we noticed we needed more practice, so we started having it twice a week. Eventually, the week before Ethnic Fair, we practiced every single day after school. We ended up being very exhausted, very sweaty and battling injuries. Besides that, the final performance was amazing.”

~Elias Ostertag, senior

Latin America

Milennial’s : GWA

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“In all honesty, [the school is] predominantly white. By bringing the Ethnic Fair, it shows the amount of diversity, and it gives people at our school a sense of what goes on in different households.”

What did you perform?

“We were representing Latin America, so we did bachata, salsa and a little bit of hip-hop because Latin America doesn’t only do Spanish stuff, but it also gives variations of hip-hop.”

What’s the deeper meaning behind the dance? 

“The deeper meaning behind the dance wasn’t just to show that we can dance bachata, but it was to show that there is a sisterhood to dancing together. It also shows the commitment that we have put into our choreography. I think the other groups used YouTube for different dances, but for us we actually came up with the dance moves. It was for the sisterhood and bonding experience.”

~Maylani Sapaula, junior

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“I wanted to participate in it because I wanted everyone to see the different sides of the ethnicity. There needs to be more awareness, especially in this school.”

How long does the Ethnic Fair process take? How many weeks did you have to practice before the event?

“It wasn’t that long, but right after the Variety Show, we started dancing. We had to cut a lot of songs out and add more to it, so it was a long process as far as the choreography goes.”

~Sole Sapaula, junior

India 

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“I was chosen, alongside Ashley, to lead, choreograph the dances, and teach for the Indian Bollywood Dance by the previous year’s choreographers. It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but I’m really proud of everyone. Ethnic Fair has been a huge part of my life ever since I moved to Hinsdale Central my sophomore year. Throughout the whole process, you find a second family and create new friendships. That is why I was so excited to accept the responsibility of leading this group.”

What songs/types of music did the group dance to?

“Picking out the songs was one of the first tasks we had to complete as the choreographers and coordinators. While picking the songs, we thought about which songs would be good for this group of dancers and to keep the audience entertained. For the partner dances and the senior dance, picking a song was a tedious process. Ashley and I had to make sure there was a good guy and girl part, along a good beat. This is why we picked ‘Sweety Tera Drama’ and ‘1234 Get on the Dance Floor’. For the senior dance, we needed to find a song with a perfect mix between being both upbeat and romantic, so we chose ‘Ik Vaari Aa’. As for the Bhangra, we wanted a hype dance song at the end, which is why we picked ‘All the Way Up remix’. Finally, for the separate boys and girls dances, we chose songs with a good meaning, as we did for every dance. They were all different in their own ways!”

~Shreya Dhananjaya, senior

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“I love Bollywood music and my culture, so I thought it was a really fun idea to be with all my friends and dance to some Bollywood music. It ended my senior year really well. It was one of my favorite memories of the year so far.”

How do you think the end result turned out? 

“I think it all came together really well, especially the work. It was all great.”

~Sophia Ali, senior

Why did you decide to participate in Ethnic Fair? 

“Well one, I was very lazy. Two, I needed to get out of the house. Three, I wanted to be a part of something because I’m not really a sporty person. I wanted to do something that I enjoyed, but at the same time do something where I could get to know people who I normally wouldn’t talk to or see in school. I think it’s also a fun way of having a chance to meet other people.”

How long does the Ethnic Fair process take? How many weeks did you have to practice before the event?

“Our first practice was Sunday, Jan. 14, and we practiced every Sunday. It wasn’t until about two weeks before the performance that we actually had practices during the week. The week of Ethnic fair we had practice Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Practices were always two to three hours.”

~Alexandria Haynes, senior