For Soka Students, the Festival is their Final Exam

One group of students will be taking their Final Exam of the spring semester this Saturday. It is the biggest exam of the year. For many of the college students at Soka University, it has been a long, hard year of attending class and participating in group activities, learning new skills and retaining old information. Now it comes down to one day.

However, unlike most students who sit in the privacy of a classrooom, these students will be taking their final before thousands of people in a single, five-minute stage performance in the new Performing Arts Center. The group consists of 16 classmates this semester who make up the Rhythmission Hip Hop Club, a dance troupe that combines jazz music and hip hop rhythm into dance.

They are a handful of the estimated 900 college students who will be performing Saturday at the 11th Annual International Festival at Soka University in Aliso Viejo. For many of them, “festival” is just code for "biggest test day" of the entire school year.

“It’s a semester long process, so this is a big day for us,” said Miho Saito, student president of Rhythmission. “First there we have to start with choreography, then add pieces as we go along. We performed in April, but spring semester international festival is what we work toward.”

The Rhythmission Hip Hop Club of Soka University of America (SUA) is one of 30 clubs on campus. However, they are one of the first founding clubs at the university. They also happen to be one of the most popular clubs on campus, along with Josho Daiko (Japanese Drums), Salsa club (salsa dancing), Ghunguroo (Indian dancing), and Bahngra (another type of Indian dance).

Saito is a sophomore at SUA who is completing her second year with Rhythmission. She feels her dance troupe is different than many others because it was founded on the idea of being able to express your feeling and inspiring others to do the same through dance.

They focus on expression, not so much on looks, in dance, Saito said.

"We are just a hip hop club. We want to be able to express ourselves through our dance and not with our clothes. We don’t wear costumes. We wear whatever inspires us,” Saito said. "We want to express ourselves through creative dance and to inspire the audience.”

During the club’s final practice this week before the real deal Saturday, they focused on portions of their routine that needed refining and also transitioned well into the next routine. The performers were loose and said they were eager to get on stage and represent SUA in their final.

“We really want to show the value of the university through our dance,” Saito said. “This is part of our mission statement. We really value ourselves in being able to come together as a team and hopefully we give a performance that will inspire that.”

Rhythmission will be performing in the new Performing Arts Center at 4:32. The performance will last about five minutes, so don’t be late. Saito said her favorite part of the day is before and after their dance when she can meet the people who live in her community around SUA.

 After all, they are neighbors.

 “I’m looking forward to seeing the community members and to really be able to share what we do here at SUA,” Saito said. "Because we are celebrating the birthday of Aliso Viejo and for SUA at the same time, there is that unity of being in the same community to celebrate. That would be a great thing.”

Soka University of America will celebrate the 11th Annual International Festival in Aliso Viejo from 10:30 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday, May 5, 2012. More than 900 performers include choirs, martial arts enthusiasts, Celtic traditional dancers, hip-hop dancers, belly dancers, taiko drummers and a klezmer band. The festival will feature more than 250 nonprofit and business exhibitors along with lots of international food, exhibitors, games and activities, student projects, two art exhibitions with presentations by the artists, ceramic sales and demos, a children's play area with Superslide and Bounce House.

Admission is free for everyone. Parking is $10 on campus, cash only, and exact change would be appreciated. Free parking is available at the Ziggurat (Chet Holifield Federal Building) 24000 Avila Road, Laguna Niguel, with free shuttles running every 30 minutes beginning at 10 am.

The 2012 International Festival is presented in cooperation with Arts Orange County and the Orange County Department of Education.

Directions to SUA  

Entertainment Schedule 2012  

Exhibitors List to Date