Really Big Show*

* Read with Ed McMahon's Voice

So the big show was last night. It was amazing!
Last year we had a program that ran for about an hour and a half and about 750 people showed up. Afterward, we had holiday cookies/brownies/etc., a piñata, and gift bags for the kids. We kept things a bit simpler this year. We ditched the piñatas and gift bags, since we decided as a committee to take the focus off of Christmas and put it more on celebrating culture.
Instead, we set up the cafeteria with tables, which the parents decorated with items from their home/country/culture. They also donated food, which we were a little worried about. We weren't sure if we were going to have enough, we weren't sure how many people were coming, and we weren't sure what the quality was going to be.
Luckily for me, I was not in charge of the cafeteria, I was just in charge of logistics and the program, which went really well all things considered.
Everyone that was supposed to be there was there. They all got on and off stage relatively quickly, with very little down time in between the acts. There were a few boo boos in the Duranguense number due to some technical difficulties, but they were followed up with a little girl who rocked the socks off of her Polynesian dances, and an absolutely spectacular Mexican Folk dance. Of course I barely got to see the show because I was running around in the halls putting out fires the whole time, but I did see my kids dance, which was great because I spent the last 6 weeks trying to scrape together a few Latin Dance numbers for the show.
Previous complaints about the show were that it was too Spanish-Language/Mexican-Culture oriented, so I tried to mix it up this year. We had the Spanish classes sing, as always. This year they were accompanied by a mini-mariachi band made out of student musicians... and an electric guitar! We also had the Concert Choirs sing, the Ballroom Dancers Dance. In addition to the previously discussed performances, we also had a student perform an acoustic version of "Leaving on a Jet Plane" (like a champ!) and literally the best coreographed hip-hop/break dance performance I've ever seen at this school. We had caucasian, African-American, Asian, and Polynesian students, as well as strong showing by our Hispanic kids.
After the show we all filed in the cafeteria and I was totally blown away by the transformation that had taken place. Our Tongan families filled the back quarter of the room with a huge, 6 foot high display of cultural artifacts and they had prepared about 7 different dishes to share. It was the most delicious food I've had in my life. Hands down. There was also authentic Chinese Teriyaki Chicken, Empanadas from Argentina, a banquet from Peru, pupusas and tamales from El Salvador, and about 3 tables full of home-made Mexican food. I was the last person to come into the cafeteria, and there was still so much food that I was stuffed.
We also had a professional Latin/Polynesian Dance Troupe performing on the stage in the Cafeteria.
All in all, it was a killer party, and definitely the largest group I've ever had to entertain. I would have handled crowd-control a little differently, and I would definitely not have allowed as many last-minute program changes as I had thrown at me, but I think we rolled with the punches pretty well and I would like to do the party the same way next year.
Pictures to come soon.