Students took to the stage on Oct. 14 for Alabanza to honor Latin culture and elevate Hispanic voices through music, dance, poetry and fashion.
”Alabanza is a Spanish word that means to ‘raise this thing to God’s face’ and to sing ‘praise to this’,” said choir director and showcase organizer Cristian Larios.“[It] is an opportunity to showcase the beautiful music and culture Hispanic[and]Latino people share.”
The event began with the Northern Voices, North’s a cappella choral group, and its rendition of Lin Manuel Miranda’s song “Alabanza” from “In the Heights.” Later, it performed “Caramba” by Otilio Galindez and arranged by Alberto Grau.
“I thought it was great,” senior Milomir Pljevaljcic said. “The musical performances were amazing as always for Northern Voices.”
Senior Joshua Contreras, Junior Ariana Morrison and Senior Ali Colon acted as masters of ceremonies for the event. Morrison also delivered the poem “A Latin Deli: An Ars Poetica” by Judith Ortiz Cofer.
“Alabanza is very important to me since our school’s population of Latinos is very small,” Morrison said. “So, being able to take a moment for us as a community to say we are here and we are proud means a lot to me and our entire community.”
Contreras concurs.
“Growing up in an area where Latino culture is underrepresented, I constantly felt out of place and as if my culture wasn’t existent in Plainfield,” Contreras said. Then, when the opportunity arose to do the showcase, I was so excited. Not only was I able to see the representation of my culture in our community, but I was able to be a part of that representation for other Latinos in the community.”
One of the highlights of the showcase was the fashion show of both Plainfield North and East girls in their quinceañera dresses. Within the Latino culture, when a girl turns 15, it is celebrated with a quinceañera as a rite of passage into womanhood.
“They were so pretty,” senior Faith Idzik said. “The Quinceanera dresses were gorgeous.”
Joliet Community Mariachi and Infinity Ballet Folklorico joined North participants during the two hour event.
“It was amazing,” Idzik said. “My favorite part was the dancers.”
The showcase concluded with PNHS mixed choir and Alabanza performers interpretation of “Vivir Mi Vida” by Marc Anthony and arranged by Roland Hatcher.
The importance of putting on this show and the success of the production was a priority to Larios as he wanted it to be a voice for the Hispanic community.
“Growing up in Plainfield, I didn’t always see myself represented in my teachers or the curriculum we were studying,” Larios said. “Now, as a teacher in the district, we’re excited to highlight Hispanics, but we also hope this opens opportunities for other voices to be heard in Plainfield.”
Larios took inspiration from Plainfield South’s Black History Month showcase held last February.
“Because of South’s leadership and efforts, we felt empowered to put together our own showcase,” Larios said. “I also have a few Hispanic students who showed interest in doing something like this and were eager to help.”
Planning for the event began last spring.
“The showcase has been coming along great,” senior Nick Zaravia said. “Ever since our first meeting back in April we’ve been a solid group of students who are excited to get involved and have been planning since.”
The education and growth of diverse communities has been of growing importance at North.
“This event allows for students and others to express themselves in a way that hasn’t really been showcased at North yet, which is also very exciting,” Zaravia said.
