Category | Arts & Living

French club holds francophone culture soirée

Published on November 17, 2009 by Berlin Sylvestre

The organizers of the French Club’s cocktail party hosted 255 guests for a night of socialization à la perfection on Nov. 9.

Francis Smalto and Imran Naser (above) pose in their matching attire. Photo by Noel Madali.

The lights were dimmed and floating candles flickered on their tabletops. Hugonie, the party’s musical guest, serenaded the growing audience with French melodies. As the hum of the crowd began to grow, the cadence of the French language permeated the air, pouring from shy beginners to their fluent counterparts, leaving both smiling in common bond.

Chef Anthony Areh’s food tables were healthy, elegant assortments of gleaming fruits, resplendent vegetables, dainty sandwiches and meatballs so tender and so savory, guests paid their compliments to the amiable culinary wizard of West Africa on their return trips to his buffet. “Wow, that looks good,” though said in English, was completely apropos. A party-planning victory was evidenced in a cake decorated to resemble the Haitian flag.

“The assignment is for each of us to talk to five people in French. It’s for points toward our grade,” said Imran Naser, a sophomore biochemistry major. “The interaction part is usually my favorite-you meet so many people trying to speak French or spitting it like fire,” Naser said.

Speaking of which, beginning French students are usually timid at such events and more advanced students are encouraged to converse with them and help them assimilate. “Most people are just afraid of asking and speaking in French,” said Francis Smalto, a junior finance major and the French Club public relations officer.

Despite his being in the intermediate levels, Naser was unfazed and said the event enhanced his perception of French language and francophone culture. “The food, the music-it makes it quite an experience,” Naser said of the French festivities.

After the live musician said adieu and the guests had their chance to converse at length, the French students who had signed up to perform and other guests were shuffled into the adjacent room so that the talent show could begin. Budding musicians and playwrights paid homage to the art of theatre and song to an amused crowd of francophiles.

One of the most noteworthy acts was a skit in which the actors, Marie-Frantz Dupuy, Matsui Boren, Eliana Fagundez, Wesley Griner, Maria Quiroz and Izelenn Ledezma, portrayed a wedding rehearsal. The group did several “cut scenes” as part of the act, but in all of them, a soon-to-be wedded couple (Griner and Fagundez) stood before a minister (Ledezma) who read their wedding vows. The ceremony was interrupted by the groom’s lover (Quiroz), who was objecting to the couple’s holy matrimony, claiming she and the groom were lovers and appeared very pregnant with a child whose father the audience assumed to be the groom. Horrified by the news, the bride (Fagundez) shouted “Victor! Pourquoi?! (Victor! Why?!)” and the scene came to a close.

Smalto found the celebration to be a success: “We didn’t expect that many people,” he said. “It was great to see so many people assemble for a common interest, that being French language and francophone culture,” said Mallory Brewer, a senior interdisciplinary studies major and French Club president. “Although it was a required event for French students, I still feel as though we were able to make ‘la francophonie’ come alive for our guests and that our efforts were well-received.”

For more information on future French Club events, visit http://freewebs.com/kennesawfrenchclub.