Show off your skills during Showtyme at MSU 2009 as some of MSU’s most unique talents compete for the night’s top prize. Elementary education senior Tiffany Edwards and MSU 2009 alumnus Carlton Rolle take you through the performances and talk about what it means to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.
In the middle of many Martin Luther King Jr. celebrations this weekend, only one could bring the energy and entertainment that others couldn’t, event officials said.
Showtyme at MSU hit the International Center Crossroads Food Court on Saturday evening with a flurry of group dances, rap performances and cultural acts most students didn’t get to see anywhere else, said Jenna Ewend, a deaf education senior and the event’s organizer with the University Activities Board.
“It’s a nice way to bring everyone together,” Ewend said.
“We have quite a variety of events from guitar to rap to Irish dances … all kinds of campus diversity.”
The talent show encouraged audience members to vote for three groups of acts: dance, singing and open mic. The winners received a $500 gift card, Ewend said.
One of the early performers in the dance category caught the eye of communication sophomore Shamone Johnson, who said she was impressed by the sole break dancer of the night.
“He had a lot of energy,” Johnson said. “For him performing by himself, he did really good.”
Although the event was dedicated to promoting MSU’s cultural talent, the night also was about commemorating the acts of King, said Carlton Rolle, who graduated from MSU with an interdisciplinary studies degree in May and is a member of the MLK Student Committee.
As a member of the committee, Rolle said he helped organize Showtyme and made sure that what happened on stage was in line with King’s teachings.
“In the past years, it’s been about students culturally reaching out in some way, shape or form to relate — by using the arts — to MLK,” he said.
“It’s about students becoming more active in the arts and by using MLK.”
Many of King’s words can be applied to what Showtyme hoped to accomplish, which was bringing together groups of different classes, cultures and creeds to celebrate together, Rolle said.
“Anything that someone can become to (have) some sort of influence over another person to help that person become a better person — through speaking to that person or teaching them how to dance — that was something that we tried to incorporate into Showtyme,” he said.
King’s message of love, tolerance and understanding still can be useful today, even as issues such as the poor economy make day-to-day life tougher for many in the community, Rolle said.
“Especially during these hard times, you find out that a lot of people might not have the love and the communication that they had in the past,” he said.
“It’s really important that people are continuously trying to be involved and reach out to other people that are not necessarily in their inner community.”
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