One of West High’s best qualities is the cultural diversity, with multiple cultural backgrounds at the school. Walk it out is an event where we get to highlight these cultures, having traditional food, clothing and dances.

Dinner prior to the show started at 5 p.m. The $7 tickets covered both food and watching the performances.

At the dinner, West students and their families served food from all over the world, including samosas, Hong Kong fish balls, mango lassi, pizza, tacos, chicken adobo and more. While some of the food was made by West High families, others were from local food sponsors such as La Mexican, Exotic India, Domino’s, Red Ginger and I Love Mochi.

The fashion show and performances started at 7 p.m. The first performers of the night were Black America. Opening in the middle of the audience and making their way to the stage. They had a powerful and meaningful performance about black culture throughout history. Showcasing popular songs, dances, hair and fashion trends throughout the decades. 

Following Black America was Latin America, showing traditional clothing like the ribbon dresses, a traditional Mexican dress. For dances, the girls danced to the Jarabe and the Lambada.  

Next was the Middle East, having members from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Kurdistan and Syria. They showcased traditional clothing, one of which was the Keffiyah, which is commonly worn in Palestine. Then they performed a traditional Middle Eastern dance called Dabke, which is usually danced at weddings.

Europe followed after them with three performers from Spain, Bulgaria and Ireland. For the fashion show, Venelin Kotev ’26 showcased a Bulgarian folk outfit inspired by clothing made during the Bulgarian revolution.

From Spain, Eva Ortega Lopez ’26 wore a flamingo skirt, a traditional Spanish scarf and carnations, which is Spain’s national flower. Lopez would sing “Es por ti” by Juanes, a popular song in Spain. From Ireland, Lauren Spence ’25 wore her Irish dancing outfit. She performed two dances, a slip jig with her soft shoes, and a traditional set with her hard shoes. 

The next performers were North Africa. They showcase their traditional dresses and headdresses. The guys wore their traditional prayer outfits, they had props that were fake swords. They performed traditional Sudanese dances at weddings. Their first dance was a coed dance, the second dance was a wedding dance, with one of the girls dressed as a bride with a traditional wedding dress, headdress and henna. The final Sudanese dance was an all-girls dance.

Gallery • 4 Photos

Josephine Schwartz

Amira Ibrahim dancing to a traditional Sudanese wedding dance.

Then, there was sub-Saharan Africa, where they showed traditional Congolese clothes and the Congo flag. A group of girls then gave a tribute dance to the war in Congo. Embracing their heritage by performing a traditional folk dance for almost 10 minutes.

East Asia was the biggest group of the night. The countries represented in this region were Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan and Vietnam. Performers displayed multiple traditional outfits for the fashion show, including the Korean Hongbok, Japanese Kimonos, Chinese Qipaos and Hanfus.

For their first performance, members performed the dance of the red dragon. After the dance, an underclassmen string quintet performed two pieces.

After the quintet, West’s K-pop club took the stage. The club danced to popular k-pop and j-pop songs such as “like JENNIE” by JENNIE, “Whiplash” by aespa, “Igloo” by KISS OF LIFE and more. After the kpoppies, a large group of East Asia performers danced the Haidilao, a popular Chinese dance trend. Afterward, the senior girls got together and performed “Touch” by Katseye. Lastly, all East Asia performers did a surprise dance to “Gangnam Style” by PSY.

The final performance of the night was South Asia. Performers from this region represented India, Pakistan and Nepal and showcased traditional clothing such as lehengas, sarees and Sherwani suits. First, the girls performed Garba, a traditional dance from the region of Gujarat. Followed by a boys-only dance. The last dance of the night was an upperclassmen coed dance.