What, outside of those people who lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina, does the current generation of Americans know about displacement? In Uganda, for the past 10 years, people have been forced from their homes. This kind of thing is an issue for quite a few nations in the world and it’s refreshing to see American college students get involved and at least bring awareness to problems like these.
On Feb. 8, the NEIU Dance Department is holding a film screening and dance show charity benefit. People involved will be NEIU dance students including Heather Liparota, the student who has been working on creating this NEIU show through most of the Fall ’07 semester. There will also be various Chicago performers and children from Dancers R Us Dance Academy. The film being screened is a documentary called Invisible Children and gives the account of children who suffer through the events in Uganda.
While trying to find out more information, I went directly to the source of information on the show. She was willing to give comment on how she came up with the idea to create the event for NEIU. Liparota said, “I was encouraged to create this event after watching the film and experiencing an overnight protest in the parking lot of Soldier Field to raise awareness for the invisible children and to let the government know that there needs to be peace in Uganda.” She brought up the wish for NEIU involvement by continuing to say, “I didn’t feel like it was enough. Sleeping along with just a few friends, I noticed large groups gathered from universities across Illinois and even some from Michigan, Iowa and Indiana. I wanted my university to be a part of this.”
She told us about the styles of dance that performed be performed though: liturgical, modern, and hip-hop styles, which according to her “express both my own inner reactions to the film including an encouraging and uplifting message to the audience.” She continued saying, “My goal for the audience is to not only be educated, but to also be encouraged to do great things after they leave the auditorium.”
The basic information for the show is this: It is on Feb. 8. The Art Gallery opens up at 7:30 p.m. The performance starts at 8:00 p.m. It is in the Auditorium. There is a suggested donation of $5.00. I, for one, will be there and donating. What about you?