Mediterranean Night
December 6, 2008
Summary

Med Night 2008, the Mediterranean Club-sponsored yearly extravaganza celebrating all things Mediterranean, was held in Dewick Hall this year and featured music, dancing, and delicious regional cuisine. Hosts Tarek Zeidan (MALD 09) and Iris Abraham (MALD 09) kicked off the evening with a joyful celebration of Mediterranean culture. As the guests stuffed themselves with a veritable feast of Greek delicacies catered by Greek Corner in North Cambridge, a sequence of student performances began.

First, spectators were greeted to a round of Yemenite-styled dance, the Israeli Baraka, which describes the way the dancers will celebrate when the blessing of peace comes. The dancers, Viviana Rivas, Jordan Pearlstein, Nicholas Davidson, Beka Feathers, Mabel Ntiru, Sarah Labowitz, Sara Ciner Schodt, and Brian Heilman, regaled the crowd with the gravity defying flying hora.

Next, a belly dancing competition between three boys entertained onlookers, and the judges proclaimed them all winners. Dancers Alper Koparan, Ipek Koparan, Asuman Turkes, Atalay Turkes, Nick Lesher, Beyza Tegmen, Selin Ozsahin, Murat Albayrak, Betul Albayrak, Bilgehan Caner, and Nazli Caner then preformed a traditional folk dance from the Aegean region, the Turkish Harmandali.

The crowd roared in appreciation at a belly dance performance by Iris Abraham, Andrea Walther, and Hawazin Naseef, complete with glittering costumes and a score combining traditional and modern Arabic music. The stage, covered with white lights and elaborately decorated by the Moroccan Caravan of Somerville, displaying authentic lanterns and wall hangings, lent breathtaking authenticity to the dancers, who could have stepped out of a sultans palace.

But it was Jimmy Antias impersonation of Professor Vali Nasr that brought down the house. Antia paid tribute to the Iranian scholars vaunted expertise, and poked fun at the number of politicians who seek his counsel on Middle East affairs.

In the Al-Fletcherzeera News Program sketch, students Munish Puri and Matt Van Etten delivered a lively send-up of a news shows format and comically presented updates on current events.
A performance by Los Fletcheros began the musical portion of the evening. Ofilio Mayorga, Matt Van Etten, Michael Freundlich, Michael Mylrea, Dan Perell, as well as members of the Fletcher a capella group The Ambassacords, participated.

Atlas Soul, Bostons best Afro-Mediterranean band, preformed what it calls World Music for World Peace. Guests danced to a rousing blend of jazz, funk, and Middle-Eastern/Arabic grooves.
Finally, the evening finished with DJ Hash-tastic, who mixed the rest of the night.
Proceeds from the evening will be donated to the Leukemia Foundation and Global Narratives, a documentary project that hopes to bring awareness to the need for bone marrow donors, in memoriam of Fletcher student Erica Murray.

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