I decided that I wanted to do my cultural project on the Washington State University Performing Arts Gala. This event, to me, was one of the best live performances that I have seen put on by a university. This event not only covered the theatrical performances but it also covered different types of dancing performances, musical performances, and cultural diversity. There was a number of talented students and faculty of Washington State University who all deserve recognition of a job well done.

Though the entire Gala was impressive, my personal favorite was the Jazz Northwest, which is the faculty jazz ensemble. This group travels throughout the Pacific Northwest and plays music written exclusively by its own members. That night they performed a song called Hello Young Lovers , it was arranged by Horace Young and was originally from the play The King and I. Not only was it liked by me but it also seemed to be one of the favorites from the audience s reaction.

There was also performances done by the WSU Big Jazz Band, WSU Wind Symphony, WSU Trumpet Ensemble, WSU Symphony Orchestra, and Cougar Marching Band performed a wide array of musical selections. My personal favorite was Ghost Train done by the WSU Wind Symphony and conducted by L. Keating Johnson.

Another important feature of the Arts Gala was the debut of Crimson Revue. This is a group of very talented singers and dancers who perform a variety of songs from the different periods of time. They have dancers who help the singers to be able to express what the song means through dance. I think that though the group is young they will be able to all succeed.

The most disappointing part of the Arts Gala was the outcome of people. Most of the audience was made up of older people and very few students. It was as though the students of WSU don t really support the different clubs here. I feel like this was somewhat of a important event and should ve been attended by more of the students and not just their teachers and elders of the community.

Part of this project is to take into consideration the historical and or cultural context of the event. Since this event had so many different acts and events I thought that I would find out what a performing arts gala was and why they are important culturally. So, I went to the dictionary and looked up what a gala is and it stated that it was a festive occasion, especially a lavish social event or entertainment. So all of it together meant that it was a theatrical festival or a show of appreciation for the performing arts program.

It seemed that when I tried to research when performing art galas came to exist but all that I could find is that they have been around since almost the beginning of time. They were present in the ancient Greek times and they are present today. A gala isn t just for performing arts but it is also for any type of occasion or person that you would like to give great recognition to. This particular gala was given to show our appreciation of the arts and how they have and effect on WSU and our community.

In conclusion, I find it interesting to see how much the students, at WSU, put into working on theatrical performances and musical interests. I found that I enjoyed this performance probably more than I expected to and for future reference I would like to attend it again and more of our performing arts events. I would like to thank you for making us attend and research an event that plays and important role in our cultural. Also, that I really enjoyed this experience and I think that if everyone were to attend an event like this our campus would be more well rounded when it came to supporting our student clubs.

Bibliography

1. http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/grklink.html, May 9, 2000

2. Lexico LLC, http://dictionary.com/, Copyright 2001

3. The whole internet and searches helped in finding more about the history of performing galas