Black Student Union displays school’s flair in annual talent show
With acts ranging from dance routines to original song and poem compositions, the third annual Black Student Union (BSU) talent show took to the stage Dec. 6 to showcase the wide array of talent found amongst the student body.
Senior Glorious Njoroge, a member of BSU and one of the event managers for the talent show, found that it was a beneficial way to not only display student talent, but to also represent the diversity found within BSU.
“I think that it’s a great place because a lot of people don’t get the chance to really show their talent in the musical or other activities. The talent show allows a person to do whatever they want and show how creative they can really be,” Njoroge said. “Also, it was a way for people to be introduced to BSU and what we do as a group of different nationalities and not just Black or African American.”
After going through a simple auditioning process, twelve acts were chosen to perform in the show. It featured a board of judges, which was comprised of Karen Thomas and staff members Aamir Cobb, Nicholas Zimmerman, David Shenk and Moses Tinsley.
Second-place recipient Project END, made up of sophomores Esther Manson, Nicole Mayorga and Dorothy Yates, performed a dance routine that featured a mashup of songs such as Taki Taki, Drip Too Hard, FEFE, SICKO MODE and BIG BANK. The group formed as a result of their shared passion for dancing, and each member played a part in choreographing different aspects of the routine. With masks and blaring alarms to start off the dance, the group followed a theme of “The Purge” throughout their performance.
“We got the idea for the purge theme from the movie. That’s how we came up with the masks, and we wanted to keep that theme going throughout the whole dance as if it was the end of the world,” Mayorga said. “We had a dance party, and at the end of everything someone came and ‘killed’ us.”
Though Mayorga has had experience performing in the past, she found that the large crowd heightened her nerves prior to the thursday night performance.
“To be honest, I’ve never been so nervous to perform in front of my peers. I’m part of a dance company and we perform every year in front of almost all of harrisonburg and I [don’t get] scared. But this time for some reason I had a mini break down and was so nervous thinking that I was going to mess up. At the end, everything went as planned, and I’m glad about that,” Mayorga said.
Performing for the third year was senior Nina Andrews, who placed third with an original song composition. Andrews’s piece, titled “90s vibes”, was a collection of thoughts and feelings that she experienced while listening to music from that era.
“I decided that this year I would write my own song because I don’t usually get to share the songs that I write,” Andrews said. “The overall idea of the song was just wanting to have that 90s vibe with someone where you just listen to music and chill.”
Andrews appreciated the opportunity to perform her piece and also recognized the talent show as being an enjoyable way for people to come together and present what makes them unique.
“When performing I was super nervous because it was an original song, but I was excited that my friends and family got to hear my work,” Andrews said. “I think [talent shows] are important because people get to showcase their talents and show how different they are. You don’t really get to do that often anymore.”
