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Between makeup, dance and song, Syracuse University’s Kappa Lambda Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. organized an evening filled with art and performances for the 31st Annual Jabberwock Talent Showcase.

The event premiered on Saturday night over Zoom and contained prerecorded performances by artists paying tribute to this year’s theme, “Night at the Museum: A Visionary’s Venture.” The performers included this year’s winning act, vocalist Jayvonn Chaney, and second place winner, vocalist Samantha Branshaw.

The showcase also acted as a fundraiser for the Mary McLeod Bethune Scholarship, which helps two high schoolers from Syracuse pay for college. Bethune became an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta in 1923.

Competitors performed in front of a live judging panel consisting of Delta Sigma Theta sorority members and alumni. The judges rated the performances based on criteria such as presentation, performance quality and how performers chose to represent the elements of the night’s theme, said sorority member and co-host Cristy Sanchez.

The night began with a prerecorded video that showed paintings and photographs from Black history in a virtually simulated exhibit. The pieces were meant to make the audience members feel like they were walking through a museum, said SU junior and Kappa Lambda member Haniyah Philogene.

Following this, Kappa Lambda President Nicole Kent’s prerecorded introduction explained the history of the sorority and the Mary McLeod Bethune Scholarship. Continuing with the theme, Kent introduced the night’s “head curators,” co-hosts Sanchez and Mame Fatima Ndiaye, another Kappa Lambda member.

The event gave viewers a virtual look at Black artwork and history through a night of performances. Screenshot

Sanchez and Ndiaye presented and explained four eras of Black history in the United States: Slavery/Civil War/Emancipation, Harlem Renaissance, 90s Hip Hop/R&B and Modern Day Black Arts & Entertainment.

Chaney’s performance of a mash-up of songs from present-day Black singers, like “Redbone” by Childish Gambino and “Location” by Khalid, won the first place title, alongside Branshaw’s acoustic rendition of “All Night” by Bree Runway.

The showcase aimed to combine and highlight Syracuse talent on and off campus, Sanchez said. While five acts were competing, six featured performances from SU and Syracuse community groups.

Philogene said that the event’s purpose was to “not only highlight the talent of our campus, but the art and beauty behind certain periods of time.”

The showcase marked the end of Kappa Lambda’s Fall 2020 Delta Week, dubbed “A Cultural Reset: Finding a Better Normal.” Every day last week, Sanchez said that the sorority pushed one part of a “five-point programmatic thrust,” including Tuesday’s social media campaign “Shake The Booth: Power In The Vote!” and readings of children’s books for Syracuse elementary schools on Friday in “Between The Lines — Cultural Preservation Through Shared Stories.”

In the month of the event’s organization, Sanchez said the most difficult part was making it virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic. She believes that it is important to continue the showcase’s tradition because the money they raised will help benefit the Syracuse community.

“To know that we are on the Hill, and we have this privilege of being in this institution, why not put forward this programming and before this event that will allow a bigger impact than just the Syracuse University community?”

Published on November 8, 2020 at 1:24 am