The fifth annual Culture X show was held on Saturday, the day after the newly-announced Diversity Day, in Levin Ballroom. This year's show was coordinated by four dedicated members of the intercultural community at Brandeis: Ana Yoselin Bugallo '03, Shalwah Evans '05, Bryan Jung '04 and Chieko Nakai '03. Emcees Ebone Bishop '04 and Judy Olivo '04 guided the audience through this virtual tour of the world and its myriad cultures.The first performance of the evening was by the Brandeis Ballroom Dance Team, who has recently started to compete with other groups in the country. Daniel Ludevig '06 and Olga Polotoratskaya '06 immediately raised the temperature in Levin with their hot cha-cha number. Boris Glants '04 and Anna Levin '06 followed with a samba dance, and Tekoa DaSilva (TYP) and Shayna Skelley '06 performed a slow and romantic rumba piece.

Culture X insisted on going beyond representing different countries and provided a stage for other kinds of communities. The next "X-hibition," for example, was a dance performed by students of the Transitional Year Program (TYP). For the numerous people in the audience who were not aware of TYP's mission, there was a brief introduction explaining how TYP gives an opportunity for talented students from disadvantaged academic backgrounds to enroll at a prestigious college such as Brandeis. In "TYP Coming To Bust a Move," the students revealed such great talent and danced powerfully to music by artists such as Aaliyah and Sean Paul.

Many people in the audience seemed delighted to see popular Brandeis acts, such as the Lion Dance Troupe and Umoja, who always know how to work a crowd. Umoja, Swahili for "unity," used their coordinated steps and cheers to share their ideas on unity as the secret to a healthy community.

The Lion Dance Troupe boasted two new lions and monk heads and impressed the audience with their complicated movements and loud drumbeats. As usual, their performance was breathtakingly colorful.

Even in its fifth year, Culture X was able to introduce new cultural dances. The Southeast Asia Club did an interpretation of the Filipino Tinikling Dance that involved stepping and dancing between two moving bamboo sticks. After having danced to a traditional Tinikling song, they incorporated some modern hip-hop into their piece.

The Korean Drum Ensemble explained that their ancient form of communication, imagry used by farmers to call nature gods, has now become a tradition at sports games and other festive events. These pieces clearly demonstrated how tradition and ancient cultures keep up with changing times and continue to be used by cultures to promote unity and pride.

The show also revived dancehall reggae, "ol' skool" and other forms of music that represent minorities and revived musical styles. "Break You Off," featuring Claudia Fontes '03, Shanelle Henry '06, Tara Mathis '03, Abiola Saliu '03, Melissa Scott '03 and Nyssa Thomas '03, was fun and seductive, with dancers dressed in velveteen tracksuits shaking their booty and dancing with chairs.

While all the performances featured costumes that were somehow representative of their individual cultures, "Going Around The World" brought the different fashion cultures together to create a visual mosaic. This fashion show, coordinated by Jason Colon '05, Asavari Kamerkar '03 and Sarah Light '05, displayed a variety of ethnic fashion. Both traditional and modern dress were included from Indian saris and Japanese kimonos to Hawaiian hula dress, men's modern suits and exotic street-wear.

Culture X also had its solemn moments, when the audience was encouraged to think seriously on social issues related to diversity. The slideshow presentation, "Where There Was No Trail," was created by Marci Surkes '03 and Ana Yoselin Bugallo '03 (with help from the Robert D. Farber Archives) as a tribute to all the trailblazers of equality and justice.

Famous quotes by Louis D. Brandeis as well as black-and-white photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the student occupation of Ford Hall were effectively spliced into the performance and the audience clapped in approval. In a similar way, Jasmine Vallejo '03, Brandeis' own spoken word artist, shared two passionate poems, of which one, "Free Fall," talked about how the world is falling like a set of dominoes. Themes of war, injustice, hatred and discrimination were eloquently expressed and were extremely well received by everyone present, including President Reinharz.

The members of Triskelion, which is almost in its 20th year, then put humor back in the show with their skit on stereotypes about homosexuality. This skit, written and performed by Seth Bernstein '05, Ben Kampler '05, Dave Libber '06 and Andres Roman '06, portrayed the dilemmas of a teenage boy revealing his homosexuality to two confused and bigoted parents. Their piece was comical, yet direct and absurdly true, and they did a wonderful job of representing the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered, Queer, Questioning and Straight Alliance (GLBTQSA).

In terms of choreography, there were two pieces that were particularly outstanding. AHORA's "Oye Bien?" (Spanish for "Can you hear that?") combined tambor, meringue, salsa and samba. Their performance was energetic and Bugallo and Colon's collaborative efforts as choreographers shone through. "Jaadu" by Ashwini Apte '03 was also impressive. Sharmila Bandyopadhyay '03, Sheralyn Diaz '03, Purnema Madahar '05, Olinde Mandell '04 and Faizeen Rahman '06 danced elegantly to this mystic number that experimented with Hindi music, Arabic music and even the latest hip hop party anthems.

The show closed with Brandeis Black Student Organization's "The Playground," which was an overall fusion of African American music and street culture. Towards the end of the act, all ten dancers donned different basketball jerseys, closing the show with a rainbow of colors and ethnicities.

The considerable turnout at the show and deafening applause proved Culture X to be, yet again, a success. It would probably be accurate to say that the performers enjoyed the show as much as the audience did. After the show, Coordinator Bugallo said, "Culture X is not about being what 'they' think about you, but being who you really are ... All the performers looked happy because they knew while they were performing, they had Brandeis in the palm of their hand."

As John F. Kennedy once said, "If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity," and Culture X clearly makes a significant attempt to make Brandeis such a place. Emcee Bishop summed up the meaning of Culture X, saying, "Culture X is about experiencing other cultures -- the cultures that we see visually but don't necessarily understand. Culture X answers questions."

With the threat of another global war, Culture X emphasized the importance for tolerance and coexistence. For the two hours that the show ran, all the students in Levin Ballroom became one.