Exposure to a different culture

Perfect evening

Instituto Hispania recently organised a special Christmas programme ‘The Christmas Spirit Event’. The evening featured creative performances by the students and faculty of Instituto Hispania.

The event began with a performance by Sr Nirmala who recited a poem in Spanish titled Si Tu Me Olvidas. The beautifully recited poetry means ‘If You forget Me’. This was followed by a guitar performance by Siddharth, a faculty, along with first level students Avinash with Sonali.

The flawless Hula Hoop dance performance by the third level students – Akshata and Shweta— was a real treat to watch. They did many difficult formations and steps  together with the hula hoop ring. It was effortless and in tune with the Spanish beats.
It was not just the students, even the faculty played its part to perfection.

The faculty from Mexico and Colombia each put up an impressive show. Faculty Maria Luisa from Mexico and Fabiana from Colombia with their students sang Feliz Navidad, a Spanish phrase meaning ‘Merry Christmas or Happy Christmas’ in English and Spanish. “This programme had a neat mix of English and Spanish songs. This is something that we don’t get to hear very often. The evening had some refreshing beats,” said Susan John, a member of the audience.   

There was an instrumental slot as well. Ten-year-old Lalitha Prasanna played four songs in a piano recital. She began with Sun Raha Hai Na and Tum Hee Ho from a Bollywood film and followed it up with a popular Christmas Carol – ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy new year’ and ‘Jingle bells’.

The evening concluded with a salsa performance by the students Surubhi and Abhimanyu. “The evening had a blend of everything from music, song and dance. And all performed in very unique styles — Mexican, Spanish and Latin American. It looked like the students are professionally trained, for they performed every move to perfection,” said Siddharth, a musician.  

However, the highlight of the programme was the ‘pinata’ made by Maria Luisa. Explaining what ‘pinata’ meant, Tanu Balasubramanian with the Instituto Hispania said, “A pinata is a container often made of papier-mache, pottery, or cloth. It is decorated and filled with small toys or candy or both, and then broken as part of a ceremony or celebration.

Pinatas are most commonly associated with Mexico, but their origins are considered to be in China.”