In order to celebrate the diversity of AHS, students from many different cultures have been rehearsing for almost two months in preparation for Heritage Night, which will be held on March 17. The theme for Heritage Night this year is “A Trip Around the World!” and the show hopes to promote the feeling of a getaway to different lands combined into one action-packed evening. The cast will be performing 16 different acts, by ensembles such as the “Bonzai Crew Hip Hop”.

The general goal of Heritage Night is to promote multi-cultural awareness and to showcase the diversity of the school. With students representing over 80 countries and speaking over 40 languages at AHS, there is certainly much to display. The show has sold out in all recent years and in the past a portion of proceeds went to global causes such as the Haiti earthquake relief.

“My favorite part of participating in Heritage Night is the marvelous diversity of cultures here at Annandale,” Heritage Night director and theater teacher George Bennett said. “These cultural threads weave an exciting fabric of students here at Annandale.”

Preparation for this event is long and meticulous. Each of the different acts, in which 100 students total participate, have been rehearsing with their sponsors for up to three hours at a time in order to ensure that their performances will be perfect.

Andrea Villarroel said. “Mostly everyone is familiar to it because other groups have performed in previous heritage nights.”

The show only occurs once a year, so the students and teachers involved want to be able to show off their cultures at their best. They take pride in the way they are able to display their unique traditions.

“We will be doing a modern dance about our culture and our outfits will be made out of kente, which is the most expensive cloth in Africa,” senior Debbie Suppey said. Suppey will be performing the West African dance.

Heritage Night 2011 promises to be an interesting and exciting show for everyone involved. Participants hope that their performances will not only please the crowd, but will help them feel that they have made their contribution to spreading cultural awareness.

“I’m participating because it’s my last year in Annandale and my goal was to participate in heritage night my senior year; and also because most of the people in my group go to Annandale so it’s something we could all participate in together,” Villarroel said.

“We hope to sell out for the 2011 Heritage Night show,” Bennett said.

“We’re going to be dancing a traditional Bolivian dance called Caporales,” senior participant