Rangeela continues to entertain, educate 
Note: Rangeela 2005 is set for February 25 and 26 in the Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $5 each at the Calvin Box Office, 616-526-6282. Both performances often sell out -- so get your tickets now!

Rangeela was first presented in 1996, for free, before an audience of about 500. It since has grown in popularity to the point where last year over 1,800 tickets, at $5 each, were sold out a week prior to the performance.

"It's without a doubt the most successful thing that international students have done to make themselves visible at Calvin, " said International Student Advisor Linda Bosch. "I'm just astounded at the sell-out crowds that come and the great audience response and support during the show. "

"The challenge," said student director Lucas Mwamuye, a native of Kenya, "is to produce a creative product which is both entertaining and informing. But it's always interesting to work with people from different backgrounds and getting to know and appreciate the richness and beauty of different cultures and nationalities."

International students tackle this challenge with gusto, practicing for months in advance of the final show. Their hard work (and that of the North American students who regularly participate, performing dances or songs they have learned during semesters abroad) paid off on Saturday, February 24, when Rangeela came to a packed Fine Arts Center Auditorium (with its capacity of almost 1,100).

This year's lineup included singing and dancing, as well as other demonstrations, representing such countries as Eritrea, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya and Korea. Calvin has 182 international students from 53 countries, everything from Australia to Zimbabwe. That does not include Calvin's approximately 200 Canadian students. Calvin junior Dae-Keun Chung was part of a group that demonstrated the Korean martial art of Tae-Kwon-Do. Chung, who practices at the Moon Tiger Martial Arts Academy in Grand Rapids, said Tae-Kwon-Do is a "unique martial art with its own history as self-defense and meditation" -- not to be confused with Karate or Kung-fu. Chung's group "invited the audience into the Tae-Kwon-Do spirit and the Korean culture." Said Chung: "Rangeela is a good opportunity to share cultures and realize that there is something we can learn from each other."

Negasi Tewoldemedhin, who has been participating in Rangeela for the last three years, sang and accompanied himself on an Eritrean instrument called a Krar. He sang a song called Hagery, which means "my country," he said. A soldier wrote the song at the time when Ethiopia invaded Eritrea. "I want to share my country's culture and history with the Calvin community and others," said Tewoldemedhin. "I am sure that many of them have never heard of Eritrea or the Krar."

Proceeds from the performance are used towards international student scholarships for Spring Break mission trips.

--By Abe Huyser-Honig '04

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