[ot-caption title=”Indian Club president, Drisha Gwalani, and German Club president, Caroline Sachse choreographed two of the 2017 Multicultural Week dances. (via Sabine Katsoulos/senior)”]

The beginning of February marks Pine Crest’s annual Multicultural Week, when students come together to celebrate the uniqueness of peoples and cultures from all around the globe. Every member of the Pine Crest community will be participating in a slew of fun activities, dress-up days, and events paying homage to the importance of cultural heritage. Throughout the next couple days, Upper School students at the Pine will take part in several informative assemblies and, as always, will be watching the multicultural dances on Thursday, February 9, from several beloved culture clubs such as the Spanish, German, and Indian Clubs.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

Type One sat down with with Caroline Sachse, the president of German Club, and Drisha Gwalani, the president of Indian Heritage Club, for a behind-the-scenes scoop on this week’s multicultural dances. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

T1: What inspired you to become the president of German Club?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: The club existed until my sophomore year of high school, so I decided to bring it back seeing as Pine Crest has a fair amount of people with German heritage, and I thought it would be fun to lead a club representing my culture. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What makes this year’s dance unique and a great fit for multicultural week?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: This dance is one of the most traditional aspects of German culture that is still actively practiced in the country, and this original Polka mixed with more modern music seemed like the perfect combination to deliver a culturally enriching performance to Pine Crest. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What region of Germany is the German Club’s multicultural week dance from?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: My club’s dance is a mixed variety of regional dancing, as it goes through different types of polka that are performed all around the country, although they are mainly practiced in America.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: During which German celebrations was your dance performed?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: Polkas and the schuhplattler are usually performed at various festivals throughout the year, such as the Oktoberfest, Kirchweih (cherry blossom festival), and generally at other joyous celebrations. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: When was it originally created? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: The polka we know today was formally introduced in the early 1800s, and less structured forms thereof may have been spread among the people even before this time. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What does the dance represent to the German people? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: To many, the dance types mainly represent a happy folk celebrating the world in all its beauty, and it expresses the power and unity of people through its upbeat tempo and light steps. The schuhplattler is also an element of comedy as many of the men who perform it like to add little hilarious tidbits to the impressive and complex dance. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What would you like people to take away from the club’s performance this year in terms of German culture? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Caroline: I would like people to recognize how German culture has evolved over the years through the presentation of polka music and popular music, and I would like to share the traditions of a country whose dance has not been demonstrated in multicultural week for quite some time now.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

While this will be German Club’s first time back in the spotlight for a couple years now, Indian Heritage Club has made a big impression on the Pine Crest community from past years’ performances. A fan-favorite was when the club brought their sponsor up on stage, former US History teacher Mrs. Sollitto. President and dance coordinator Drisha Gwalani shares what fans should be looking forward to for this year’s performance.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

T1: How is this year’s Indian Heritage Club dance different from last year’s? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: The Indian Heritage Club’s dance is different this year because we are going to be working with other clubs and integrating seniors from one or two dances into our own dance. It is also different because we are using a lot more formations in the dance in order to make it more interesting. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: Where did you draw inspiration from for this year’s dance? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: This year, as President of the Indian Heritage Club, I had to choreograph the dance with the help of the VP, Rhea Kumar. This year we were inspired by some college Bhangra teams. We tried to take our favorite songs and integrate them in order to create one great dance. We tried using songs and steps that are a little less traditional but more entertaining. We have a mix of traditional Bhangra songs mixed with English music and some other cool songs. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What did you improve upon from last year’s dance?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: This year we started practicing early, and we really improved on formations for the most part. We have been working on switching formations a lot to keep the dance interesting. We also have tried improving the assembly by trying to integrate dances in the assembly. We are in the process of trying to get 1-2 seniors from another culture’s dance to join another dance for 10-20 seconds, so if we can pull that off we will really be able to exemplify the multicultural message. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What do you think the dance represents? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: Our dance represents Indian culture and the traditional Bhangra dance. The assembly’s message is to promote cultures from across the world and generate a love for appreciating different cultures through dance and music. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: Does your club have any other events going on during multicultural week? [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: Yes. We are trying to plan a table for the club showcase on Wednesday.[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
T1: What would you like people to take away about Indian Culture from this year’s dance?[spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]
Drisha: I would like people to appreciate each culture we represent during the assembly. Especially right now, the world is filled with so much hatred and instability, I would like people to appreciate, enjoy, and promote the diversity throughout our world. l hope people enjoy the assembly and the IHC dance. [spacer height=”10px” id=”2″]

With your newly acquired insider information, we hope that you’ll now be able to appreciate each and every dance on a deeper level. Enjoy this year’s Multicultural Week and keep an eye out for these clubs’ performances in the assembly on Thursday, February 9.