Celebrating the Heritage of Morris County - "Many Lands, One County"
Singers, dancers and musicians representing countries from Ireland to India and from Sweden to the Philippines, shared the arts and history of their countries at "Many Lands, One County: A Celebration of Cultural Heritage," Sunday, April 19 the County College of Morris Student Center.
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More than 200 guests joined in the celebration, sponsored by the Morris County Human Relations Commission in collaboration with the Morris County Historical Society. The intent: to mark the contributions of the many peoples who have come from around the world and made Morris County their home.
Ragini "Regina" Goel, a past Commission chair who headed the festival committee, and her co-chair, Debra Westmoreland of the Historical Society, said the festival was an opportunity for learning, sharing and family fun.
In addition to the performances, James DelGiudice, who teaches photography at the college, presented "Backroads of Morris County," a lighthearted look at local history, and at famous and not so famous residences and historic sites.
Among the featured performers were:
- Sonas: A Celtic band performing traditional Irish and Scottish music in the Cape Breton fiddle style.
- Philippine Chamber Rodalia of New Jersey: a string ensemble promoting the rich musical legacy of the Philippines
- Prachi, 13, and Surya, 9, Makkar, young musicians who sing in four languages (Sanskrit, English, Punjabi and Hindi), who presented a Sanskrit invocation and led the audience in singing the national anthem
- Indian Classical Music: Tabla Ensemble featuring students from Taalsadhana School of Classical Music playing the popular Indian percussion instrument.
- Dance to India: Robin Wright
- Morni dance: Dancers from the Nritya Manjli School of Dance
- Gold Orchid of Colombia: a very young group of dancers from a folkloric group dedicated to preserving cultural roots and heritage through traditional dances and music.
- Swedish Folk Dancers of New York: traditional Swedish an Nordic dances by a group believed to be the oldest ethnic folk dance group in continuous existence in the United States.
- Caribbean and Native American music: Luis Martinez
- Chinese and Broadway songs: Tina Lin Jen. Arts, crafts, displays.
- Norwegian art: Deborah Landvik-Larsen, an award-winning teacher of rosemaling, a Norwegian decorative art, wearing a traditional costume eight generations old, showed her products.
- Norwegian display by the Sons of Norway lodge in Lake Telemark.
- Henna painting: a traditional Indian art demonstrated by Hina Mehta of Parsippany.
- How to wear an Indian sari: demonstrated by Rashmi Makkar.
- "Living Art" by Luis Martinexz Piar and friends.
- Indian and assorted jewelry by Fatima
- CDs by Philippe Chamber Rondalia
- CDs by Sonas
- Multicultural books from Sage Pages Bookstore in Madison.
- Chinese calligraphy by Tina Liu Jen
- Art of Rangoli: children's crafts
- Lace making by Lost Art Lacers of North Jersey
Singers, dancers and musicians representing countries from Ireland to India and from Sweden to the Philippines, shared the arts and history of their countries at "Many Lands, One County: A Celebration of Cultural Heritage," Sunday, April 19 the County College of Morris Student Center.