African and Latin Cultures united to bring students of different cultures together during Central’s African Student Organizations’ (ASO) event, “Culture Shock.”

The purpose of “the Devils Den @ 10” event was to introduce students to cultural backgrounds that they may not have been introduced to before. This educational experience is achieved through the use of food and music, as these can be seen as culturally universal.

The event included several performances opening with a dance number from Centrals Organization for Latin American Dance Awareness (COLADA). The organization performed a mixture of Latin dances including Bachata and Tango.

“My culture is Spanish and they opened up with Spanish [dancing] and I like that,” CCSU Freshmen Pasquale said. “I definitely want to see all the other cultures that are around here because I wasn’t exposed to that in high school.”

Among the other performers of the night included Chungong Larryking. Larryking and his brother performed a wide range of cultural dances to a large variety of music.

“[We’re performing to] music from France, The Ivory Cost, Cameroon. Dances from everywhere, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, South Africa, France,” Larryking said. “We’re trying to incorporate every genre of dance. Dance isn’t just about one part, dance is about everybody. All the cultures, bringing them together and then you actually can see the beauty of dancing.”

The cuisine was also an important staple for the event. It was critical to ASO that the food have an authentic feel to it. Instead of using the University’s contracted caterer Sodexo food Services, the club received permission to source an outside vendor.

Pab’s, a local African restaurant located in West Hartford catered the event serving African dishes such as Jollof rice, Puff puff ( described as an African donut), Chicken, Meat pie, fried Plantains and more.

Music, food and performances were not the only aid used in bringing students together. The Latin American Student Organization (LASSO) tabled the event in an attempt to promote the club while offered Day of the Dead pintables for students to color in.

“We also have Colada coming up which is a collaboration with COLADA and LASSO. Its going to be a huge party, and its going to awesome,” LASSO Secretary Kayla Natal said. “People need to know that we’re around. LASSO is for Latin American Student Organization. We want more Spanish people to come to our meetings because you know, it can get lonely sometimes being around Caucasian people. Not knowing where to find your home, people that look like you, eat the same food as you, dance like you, dress like you, so its a great way to get involved and create a community around the Latin people on campus,” Natal continued.

Culture Shock’s mission is to unite and inform students on the diversity immersed within the campus.

“We do have a community here for minority students who may feel like they don’t have a group to connect to, and even for those who are not minorities,” ASO secretary Joycelyn Quaye said. “We can all come together through common things like food and music.”