Story by Shemsa Ndahiro Iribagiza, Graduate Assistant

Holcombe Hall hosted University Housing’s 15th annual Dance Around the World on November 17, 2021.

This celebration of global arts ended with an evening filled with live music, dance, food and prizes from all over the world.

It is an evening where international students get to share a piece of their homes and domestic students get to interact with people who are different from them. We kicked off the evening with the Indonesian students Association dancing a traditional style that imitates the birds of paradise called Cenderawasih. We had over 10 performances representing countries like the Philippines, Panama, Brazil, Uganda, Madagascar, and many more.

We also had some cultural representation of food from local restaurants in Fayetteville such as Khana Indian Grill. With over a hundred people in attendance, Dance Around the World promoted global belonging, community development and fostered friendship between international students, the community and domestic students. Students got a chance to interact with each other, various members of the community and some faculty and staff members.

We had a Kahoot game to test the global competence of our attendees where the top three winners got a basket full of global goodies such as a lucky cat, some Mexican candies, and chopsticks. We ended the evening with a group performance of students from Germany, South Sudan, India and many more.

We want to take this moment to thank all our performers because there would not have been a show without your dedication and hard work. Thank you to everyone who came out there to support us. See you next year!