Arabic Talent Show takes the stage

“Ya Salam!” Third-year Arabic student and moderator Jackson Goldberg officially opened the first Arabic Talent Show, an event sponsored by the Department of Near Eastern Language and Culture.

Shortly after, fourth-year Arabic student Rebecca Payne ran into the room yelling in Arabic, “Professor, professor, I’m sorry for running late.”

Performances began with a brief Quranic recitation by second year Arabic student Ali Razali.

Following the recitation, student laughter was heard within Morrison Hall 007 as three second year Arabic students taught the audience how to cook a popular Arabic dessert through a program for kids by holding up cards with Arabic terms for each cooking step. The students made the famous dessert, kunafeh, using cotton balls for cheese and paper as butter.

“I had a really great experience,” said second-year Arabic student and senior Alexsandra Buckner about the experience preparing for the cooking demonstration. “I think this is an awesome opportunity to learn new words in Arabic as well as repeat the words you already know.”

American pop culture didn’t escape the Arabic performances either as the Arab Backstreet Boys made an appearance singing “I Want It That Way” in Arabic. The mean girls from the popular 2004 film “Mean Girls” were also featured in the talent show.

As performances continued, students sang songs, recited poetry and taught the audience how to make homemade hummus.

“I’m a senior and I won’t be here next year, but I think it’s a great thing for freshmen,” said Buckner.

The entire event, which was held in Arabic, included a total of 19 acts ranging from students performing cultural songs, skits, dancing, cooking demonstrations, and a puppet show taking place in Egypt.

This being his first year at IU, Director of Instruction at the Arabic Program and Professor Nader Morkus brought the idea to the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures after working with different Arabic programs, some of which were the University of Texas-Austin and Middlebury College, and assisting them with their talent shows.

The planning for the event started at the beginning of the semester and students spent many hours working with their Assistant Instructors preparing for the show, said Morkus.

“Students impress you and surprise you by how much passion they for Arabic,” he said.

“It is great to see the enthusiasm from the students and the talents and passions they have for what they are doing is amazing”, Professor Morkus said. “It creates a sense of community in the program and provides the students with an opportunity to showcase what they can.”

Payne, who was also a moderator for the talent show, said she was sad that this is the first year that they were having the talent show since it is her last year.

“It was really cool to see everyone and all my classmates’ hidden talents,” she said.