Different cuisines, music and outfits filled West High to the brim on May 16 for Walk It Out, a yearly event that invites students and the community to bring their traditional cultural food and attire for a meal and fashion show to display different heritages. This year, the performance — held at Arganbright Auditorium — was split into five different regions: Europe, Africa, East Asia, the Middle East and South Asia.
After opening remarks by leaders Gracie Liu ’27, Ira Dirar ’26 and Ayesha Ahmer ’26, representatives from Europe opened the show, with Alexander Moss ’28 and Veni Kotev ’26 leading the region. Moss, representing Sweden, performed a piece on Norwegian fiddle before Kotev took the stage to play a Bulgarian piece on the piano, with both wearing European folk outfits.
African students performed next, led by Minna Abdalla ’26, Husam Mohamed ’26 and Waleed Haroun ’27. After several students paired up to walk in their cultural outfits, the group showcased four dances, some of which featured flashy moves with swords — one each for girls and boys, a traditional dance and a co-ed performance.
After the first two regions, East Asian performers walked and danced, representing Korea, China, Japan and the Philippines. After several pairs of students showcased outfits from different East Asian countries, performers took the stage with a dragon dance and two different sets of K-pop, one by the Kpoppies club. The group’s leaders were Jasmine Tsang ’26 and Callie Gao ’26.
The Middle East region followed as pairs walked on stage runway-style, displaying traditional attire from Palestine, Iraq, Turkey and Lebanon. Led by Loren Barjis ’28 and Ibrahim Abudagga ’27, five students then performed a Dabke dance, a Levantine tradition combining line and circle dancing.
Finally, South Asian performers took the stage, with students representing Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Thara Rajagopal ’26 and Sudarshan Kasturirangan ’26 narrated as the performers struck poses, each showcasing their own cultural clothes. The night ended with four dances — girls, boys, the full region and graduating seniors.
Momoka Shinozaki ’27 was first encouraged to join Walk It Out by a family friend in her freshman year and has been part of the show ever since. This year, she represented her country, Japan, by wearing a yukata — a floral-colored kimono commonly worn in Japanese summer festivals. Shinozaki believes that Walk It Out serves as a way to unite students with various cultural backgrounds and encourages any new students to join next year.
“It’s just a beautiful way of uniting the whole school together and seeing how diverse we are. There’s really no other opportunity to see the school through that lens,” Shinozaki said. “It’s a really unique experience to be able to take pride in who you are and show off your culture.”
