Life is a Cabaret, old chum

We strolled down to Lawrence University Sunday afternoon and treated ourselves to our first, but the school’s 42nd, annual International Cabaret.

I highly recommend this authentic extravaganza of talent, humor, fashion and good will.

The show kicked off with a gorgeous Chinese dance called the Thousand-Hand Guan Yin. I feel like we all could use a little Guan Yin in our lives. The Goddess of Compassion, she has a thousand hands to represent her ability to help, and each hand has an eye, which gives her the power to see the world. She also has many faces so she can become who people need her to be.

How appropriate that Guan Yin opened the show, designed to showcase all that the 350 members of Lawrence’s International Club bring to that campus and beyond.

“Cabaret is our chance to turn the tables around and show what we bring to this country,” said the club’s elegant president Binita Rajbhandari.

From our seats in the back of Stansbury Hall, we listened to an Ecuadorian love song, a Mariachi band, a Croatian folksong and “Schuhplattler”, a German rap song performed by two guys wearing lederhosen and mischievous grins.

We watched a Jordanian Folk Dance, a spirited fashion show and a traditional Greek Dance. The show also featured a Chinese fan dance and K-pop, a medley of Korean pop dances, among several other acts.

Regretfully, I did not have my camera with me but I am including a few shots from my phone.

Once again, I’d like to thank Lawrence University for its generosity in extending invitations to the community. If you live near a college campus, treat yourself to a student performance from time to time.

Like Guan Yin, collegiate performances offer a thousand ways to see the world and, from that perspective, the future is looking sharp.