There are some special occasions when you can listen to the whole KDI School community shouting and cheering at once. One of them is the Song and Dance Festival. This is one of the most emblematic events of the school for the students, of the students and by the students and it is held annually in the summer semester. This time, we gathered on July 4^th. Some prepared to sing, some dance, and some practiced a musical instrument while the rest prepared their lungs to shout for their favorite performances.

The festival included thirteen teams and individual performances, who provided three hours of sheer fun and pure talent. The MCs of the event were Franklin Tokam (2013 MPP, Cameroon) and Sunmee Lee (2013 MPP, South Korea). To start, we enjoyed the amazing voice and charisma of Said Torres (2013 MDP, Honduras) who sang a classic song from The Calling. Then, we were all surprised by the unexpected participation of Kanyanta Mubanga (2013 MDP, Zambia) who put the audience to sing along If tomorrow never comes by Ronan Keating. Franklin Tokam and Andres Bernstein (2013 MPP, Chile) beautifully sang Dear Prudence by The Beatles. The team Happy Goes Lucky (students from China, Greece, Indonesia, Thailand and Maldives) filled the room with joy and positive energy with their singing and dancing. Then, the audience shouted for the good stage presence of Rudolph Matete (2013 MPP, Zimbabwe) who showcased an African dance. The first half of the festival ended with The Bachata Tigers (students from Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico) who performed a sexy Latin dance.

The second half opened with The Back Street Voice (students from South Korea) singing Let it be and Tears in Heaven. KDI students then cheered the participation of our beloved professor Abraham Shragge who sang Political Science by Randy Newman. We continued to enjoy some Uzbek vibes with the team Destination who sang Rule the World. We also had some cultural spice by the team Kingdom of Wonder composed by all our Cambodian friends who danced Proud to be a Cambodian. We later had a twist of rhythm to welcome The A Team (students from the Philippines, Guatemala and Ukraine) who danced to the sexy beat of Korean, Latin American and Beyoncé songs altogether in a mix that made everyone scream and shout. Finally, the KDIS community enjoyed the positive energy of the team VIVA (students from Burundi, Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Cote d’Ivoire), who displayed an amazing, upbeat African dance. 

At the end, we remembered this festival was a competition as well. Prizes summed up to 1,200 million won for the first, second and third place. The jury of the contest was composed of Associate Dean Kwon Jung, Jae Soon Lee (Head of the Student Affairs Division), Mehri Hosseini (2014 MDP, Iran) and Jose Garcia (2014 MDP, Colombia). Third place was for Said Torres. The second prize was claimed by Keep It Simple and The A Team. And finally, the first prize went to the VIVA team.

In the middle of this excitement and delight, we could see that KDI students work hard but they also know how to have fun. The incredible display of talent that night left no doubt that everybody was a shining star!

By Lesly Rubio Campos (2013 MPP, Guatemala