Dancers,food and song highlight RomanceLanguageExtravaganza

Tanya K. Tumaian staff writer Tkt722@cabrini.edu

The opening act of the Romance Language Cultural

Extravaganza, according to Lisa Franks, an adjunct French instructor, is that the underlining text behind "Sous le ciel de Paris" expresses that the "Rainbow comes out in the end." This was not only true to the song, but also to the final performers of the night, Flamenco dancers Pasion y Arte, whose bold colors and strength brought a beautiful ending to an extravagant night.

The night began with heartwarming thanks from the coordinator of the event, Dr. Cynthia Halpern, department chair or Romance Languages. The event was made possible by the Fund for the Improvement of Education awarded to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Consortium for Higher Education to develop a global curriculum initiative.

A wide range of people attended this event; children, students and older adults filled the room on Friday, Nov. 7. Some students, who were taking a foreign language class, received extra credit for going to the event.

Music filled the atrium as we awaited the beginning of the Romance Language Cultural Extravaganza. Franks began by expressing her thoughts on the song she was about to sing.

Franks expressed her words through her gestures, which may be from the acting she did at the Walnut Street Theatre.

Franks, a frequent church soloist, first song came from "La Boheme".

Food and drinks were served representing the countries of Italy, France and Spain. For Italy they had Brushetta, which is made of tomatoes, basil and cheese put on top of bread. For France they had Crepes, almost like thin pancakes, which were filled with cream cheese.

Finally, representing food from as well. While the program and the idea is readily available, 1t has been slow to spread. Many people are not yet aware of their new option or just don't feel like paying for something they were so accustomed to receiving for free.

Spain, they had a Spanish dip made with olives. Wood Dining Services made all of the different types of hors d'oeuvres, non-alcoholic sangria's and lemonade were also given out to anyone who attended the event.

The next performers, Pasion y Arte, strengthen the Flamenco tradition by using dance, song and guitar to focus on the empowerment of women.

According to their website, www.pasionyarte.com, it states that their works "examine gender, cultural, religious, socioeconomic and generational boundaries in the context of the Flamenco language". The Flamenco dancers showed no emotion in their face, but showed strength in their performance.

Halpern said that we would "not be disappointed" and that it would be well worth the wait, and there was nothing disappointing and it was well worth the wait.

One of the people who has taken to this new possibility is Cabrini College senior Ryan Dixon. While the prices can add up, it is totally legal. This has led Dixon to purchase 675 songs in the past seven months. Being legal raises many eyebrows, but the question is whether or not people will take to this new chance, spending dollar after dollar, or stick with comfortable conformity and continue illegally downloading songs free of charge.

The crack down from the RIAA and the revolutionary experiments by Apple might bring back some value to old Washington, but will consumers have the compliance to keep paying for each and every song they want to listen to? So far, the music industry (record labels) and the RIAA find it to be a viable solution. Apple takes about two-thirds of what it receives from online buyers and pays it to various record labels for the right to offer the music across iTunes.

The process isn't over yet, but the ball is definitely rolling on this innovative creation from the people at Apple. Time will tell as the listening world decides on its best avenue to take.

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