Hell Week
(Photo source: Antonia Serban)
(Photo source: Ram Sharma)
For any Clarkie who has been part of any big production on campus, the words “Hell Week” are familiar words of doom. A week of sleepless nights, long practices and hours in one room every night. GALA is no different for the members of the International Students Association. The week involves watching each dance at least thrice per night, giving feedback on the dances, planning for the day itself, ironing flags for the flag ceremony and most importantly learning all the dance moves. By the end of the week, we have mastered the dances from Egypt to Brazil, to Nepal and France and many more!!! We have lost our voices from screaming for and encouraging friends.. Every year, one ISA member is designated the “Food Master”. He/she orders food for everyone from restaurants around Worcester in another attempt to keep spirits high and tummies full. This year, that wonderful person was Jocelyn Ng and her lovely apprentice Lara Ibrahim. Wednesday’s hell week features an 8am start as we begin to build the stage for GALA - YES we also help build the stage along with the professional staff. Wednesday is also the day we officially move into the Kneller and the gravity of the event hits as we spend all day from 9am till 1am in the Kneller from Wednesday to Friday!!! About 5-7 of us even spent the entire night in the Kneller on Thursday night to protect our equipment. Throughout the intensity and hectic week that is hell week, the hours spent together, meals shared, shout outs and sleepy conversations are the reason why ISA is so close by the end of the week and why we are able to call each other family from that point on…even after Clark. As we saw this year, some of our ISA Alumnae brought snacks for all the sleepy and hungry souls.
GALA Day
(Photo source: Camille Ferreol)
The Flag Ceremony
(Photo source: Rose Wine Photography)
Friday MARCH 31ST 2017! D-day! The day has arrived. The reason for over 3 months of planning, dance practices and hell week have been leading up to its GALA!!! This year’s theme for GALA was “United We Gala” as we as ISA and Clark reflected on what has been an extremely difficult year ( from the last GALA) we decided that this was a night of celebration of music, dance, camaraderie and love as we stood together from every corner of the world. The show was presented by our amazing hosts Anne- Claire Merkle -Scotland, Ryana Cole, Ishan Chatterjee, August Welles and Iva Hoxa. The night was one filled with bright lights and all the glitz and glamour of a world class concert!!! Behind the scenes performers and ISA ran and climbed many flights of stairs and endured intense heat in the squash courts and pool decks to bring this amazing show to the Clark Community. Despite fears of a snow storm and the rain before the show the Kneller was packed and the atmosphere was set for the amazing show that was presented. The crowd even featured a group of 10 ISA alumni hailing from Worcester, Texas, Philadelphia, and New York. This year’s awareness component was two-fold on one hand students representing their country through dance spoke before their dance to speak of an issue close to their homes and their hearts as well as students representing organizations in the Worcester and lark Community. We also had tables at the back of the Kneller where students could approach the organizations represented, including LASO and Salsa de la Fontera who were raising funds and awareness for the flood victims in Peru. The Flag Ceremony which ends the show was 10 minutes of joyous celebration as Clark students from around the world proudly waived their flags, danced and helped us as ISA close out the successful 15th Annual International GALA. On behalf of everyone in ISA I would like to thank all those who performed, volunteered and attended our event it would not have been possible without you.
GALA After Party
(Photo source: Arianna Brugnola)
(Photo source: Alisa Gelfand)
Every year, the day after GALA, ISA hosts an after party which is always in the Cafeteria. This year, Arianna Brugnola, Türkü Hastürk and Hazel Odell made the after party committee. The theme for this year was “Flawless”, inspired by Beyoncé. The theme translated to the powerful promotional video that showed the expression on peoples faces when they were told that they too were flawless. The Cafeteria lobby was decorated with all things flawless including the ever popular photo booth. Our guest DJ for this year was DJ Afrobass who specializes in international music. He was accompanied by Clark's local DJs, DJ Rafa (Rafael Molina) both of whom had people dancing to the very end. While the party was an absolute success, the realization that this indeed was the end of GALA was evident as ISA broke down in the cafeteria. But despite this sadness, there was the usual excitement to see how much better we can make the next GALA. For anyone who missed out this year you truly missed out on the event of the year, but never fear there is always next year!!!
For more information on events that ISA plans throughout the year follow us on our Facebook page. And to watch the show should you have missed it please use this link Clark University GALA 2017.
