Student performances, food festival round out annual day of activities

By Cassie Ferguson

Gazette Staff

Actress Halle Berry will join students in a celebration of Harvard's cultural diversity in song, dance, costume, and cuisine during the 13th annual Cultural Rhythms festival on Saturday.

Numerous undergraduate student groups will perform in a show in Sanders Theatre, where Berry will be named "Artist of the Year" by the festival's sponsor, the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations.

The performances, lasting from 3 to 5:30 p.m., will be followed by an international food festival held next door in the Science Center from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Berry will be awarded a plaque bearing the signatures of President Neil L. Rudenstine and Harvard College Dean Harry R. Lewis for her work in productions such as Spike Lee's Jungle Fever, the 1995 film Losing Isaiah, and the recently aired television miniseries The Wedding, produced by Oprah Winfrey.

"Halle Berry is a widely respected artist of extraordinary talent," said S. Allen Counter, director of the Harvard Foundation. "In addition to her outstanding skills as an actress, we are very much impressed with her contributions to important social causes, both national and international."

President Neil L. Rudenstine said: "We are very pleased to welcome Halle Berry as the guest of honor at the Harvard Foundation's annual cultural festival. I know that she has many admirers throughout our community who will be delighted at the opportunity to see her in person and share with her a sampling of Harvard's rich cultural diversity."

"She is an inspirational person," said Cultural Rhythms co-director Nana Coleman, a Cabot House senior from Ghana who is concentrating in history with a focus on Africa.

Coleman, who has helped plan Cultural Rhythms for the past four years, said, "Every year it gets better. It has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my time at Harvard."

Proceeds from Cultural Rhythms will be donated to local charities such as the Casa Myrna Vazquez shelter for battered women and children, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, the Pine Street Inn for the Homeless, and Rosie's Place for women.

Tickets for Cultural Rhythms ($5) are available at the Sanders Theatre Box Office and through BosTix in Holyoke Center. There will be an extra charge for items from the food festival.