UCR: Uniting Us as One

UCR: Uniting Us as One
Posted by Carlos Salazar

Of all the UC campuses, UCR has been fortunate enough to be given the title of “the most diverse campus.” In fact, on a national scale, the University of California, Riverside ranks second among all college campuses in overall diversity. This honor really does not mean much because as an entire campus, we are separated in groups. There is no unity between us, which leaves UCR as any other common campus. The lack of unity acts as a chain reaction to a series of issues. The disunity that exists between the different cliques and groups does not allow the school to have as much school spirit as we should. As a group, we decided to address this problem as the topic for our parade. We entitled our group “Juicy R” to give us something to smile about while we were preparing to complete the parade.
The ideas for our parade took some time to develop. At first, most of us seemed hesitant to participate and suggest anything. Once we had become a bit more comfortable with each other, the ideas began to flow with more ease. The fourteen of us collaborated (yes, our group was big) to select the theme of school disunity in a diverse campus. Everyone began to agree with the jobs and duties that each member would be responsible for. More importantly, we made sure that everyone had an assignment so that we could all contribute. Once we had the choreographers and music members ready, we were ready to begin the rehearsal. One main aspect that the choreographers and music members had to be sure of was difference between them. We could not have similar movements or tunes because we needed to depict different people on campus.



The music was meant to show that there was diversity within us while representing the different people. Each of our members had a specific duty that would help cover the broad and narrow details of our parade. As soon as everything was in place, we began to organize our parade to accommodate our theme. In order to address the theme of school disunity, we had to be separated. Since there were fourteen of us, we decided that the best way to express this would be to split everyone into groups. Our choreographers were Axel, Melissa, and Stephanie. Each of them created their own dance that went hand in hand with the music. We had three different groups within our parade. Each one was presenting different music with a unique choreography. Axel’s group, which I was a part of, used the music from a video titled “Nostalgia Afrika Dance Machine.” The group that Melissa was in charge of danced to the music from Bonde Do Role, which has a type of funk style music. Stephanie’s group danced to a song called Soul Bossa Nova by Quincy Jones. Each of the groups had their own dance to learn. This was when we used our creativity to connect the groups together, despite the evident separation.



Even though we were split up, we used small details to show there was some connection between us. The long hours of practice saw us perform our dances to near perfection. Each of our sub-groups worked hard to dance in unison. We each wore navy blue shirts with different letters. These letters, which were “U”, “C”, and “R”, were meant to demonstrate three different groups who together could form something absolutely grand. We felt that in order to really capture the entire message that we had the timing of our movements and dances needed to be precise. During the actual performance on June 4, 2009, the disunity between us was very clear. While the first two groups were performing, we talked amongst ourselves and expressed the disagreement that we had towards them. The last of the three groups was mine, which included Axel, Monica, David, and me. Our music represented more authenticity, which reached out to the other two groups. The movement that our dance required and the catchy music led to them wanting to jump on the “R” express. The fourteen of us then made one single line to demonstrate that a little influence can go a long way. We incorporated a bit of choreography from each sub-group to show that each different group had learned something from the others.



At the end of our group’s entire performance, we made a quick cheer in which all of us remarked, “UC Riverside, come on!” At the same time, we took some streamers out from our pockets and waved them to embellish our dancing. When our jobs were first assigned, I took the responsibility of finding a parade route. This would be location of our group’s performance. A few of the locations that we were taking into serious consideration was to parade around the Bell Tower or in front of the Humanities building. This job eventually had to be discarded because Professor Scott gave us an actual parade route for everyone to follow. Everyone else already had their jobs set, so I couldn’t really interfere with the work that was in progress or nearly completed. When I found out that the parade route was going to be given to us, I had to improvise and find something to do that our group still needed. Even though the navy blue shirts were a perfect tool for our parade, I still felt that there was something missing. The shirts had different letters (U, C, and R) for the different group members. Once we were all together, though, we did not have a uniform prop to demonstrate our unity. I seized this opportunity to create the props for our group. We discussed several possibilities for this, and we finally agreed that streamers would be great for our parade. We kept them in our pockets and they would not be used until all three groups were in a single line. After we completed the different elements of each dance, we would then take out the streamers (right before our cheer). At that point, we would all exit while happily waving our streamers and continuing to move rhythmically.



In terms of our performance, it was not performed to the best of our abilities. I personally thought that there were a few rehearsals where we had performed with better timing and more of a free spirit. Prior to the actual performance, we practiced our routine many times to ensure that this would not be an issue. For the most part, the attendance in practice was satisfactory. There was one member who did not prioritize the group and instead put his attention on other activities. Other than the slow start, there weren’t too many issues that we had to worry about. The opportunity to participate in this samba class was a privilege. When I first came in, I honestly did not know what to expect. The talk of a parade left me wondering what is was that we were going to do. The weeks went by and I was practicing and rehearsing with my group before I could even realize it. The parade project proved that we could be creative with no boundaries and create an amazing performance. I was exposed to a new realm of music that I was completely unfamiliar with. I was not up to speed with the movements that were required in our dance. With some more practice, though, it should be done. The “Juicy R” team showed that our school just needs to have a different mentality. Most of the pieces to create a unified campus are already in place. It is up to us to go out, reach, and transform UCR into a school with more spirit.