by Nerys Levy

On Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m. volunteer servers from diverse walks of life will be poised, spoons in hand, waiting for the signal from Mama Dip (Mildred Council) to begin serving the sixth annual Community Dinner at the McDougle Schools "cafetorium" in Carrboro.

This is no ordinary dinner; it is a happening, a unique showcase of our community's cultural mix through food and the arts. During the past six years, the Community Dinner Committee, which includes Council and others from different community groups and cultural organizations, has met regularly to review the constantly changing nature of our community and how best to represent it at the dinner.

During this year's discussions, committee members suggested that although the dinner should be our main focus of attention, it should ideally serve as a catalyst for a variety of smaller countywide, year-long community activities. The committee hopes to get suggestions for such activities at the dinner.

This year's event will be as diverse and multicultural as the five previous ones. Food again will be provided by Mama Dip's Kitchen, the Chapel Hill Kehillah and a host of restaurants. Desserts are being donated by churches and other groups. The entertainment will include Latin band music, an a cappella group, tango dancing, choral music, a Chinese dancing lion, presentations by talented senior citizens, a high school step group, and western instrumental and Afro-Caribbean music. John and Lynette Blackfeather of the Occaneechi Band of the Saponi Nation will again bless the proceedings.

The a cappella singing will be performed by the Loreleis, a group of 16 UNC undergraduate women. The group, named after the legendary siren on the River Rhine in Germany who lured sailors to their deaths with her enchanting voice, has been active since 1980. It performs for campus and community events, produces a new album every other year and tours nationally (and on occasion internationally) twice a year. The repertoire ranges from R&B to country, from contemporary pop music to choral classics and the group.

Over the years, the group has won many prizes and performed on many radio and television programs. Recent triumphs include winning the National Collegiate A Cappella Championship (1996) inclusion in the Best of College CD albums (1997, 1998, 1999) and an appearance with singer Bobby McFerrin in the spring of 2000. "One," the group's newest CD, was released in October 2002.

The tango dancing will be performed by two couples from the Triangle Tangueros. This group, which dances "Argentine tango" as opposed to "ballroom tango," was started in early 2001 and has more than a hundred members who meet regularly for social dancing, performing at live music events and giving classes.

Performing at the Community Dinner will be Jason Laughlin, who teaches the tango at the Carrboro Arts Center. He has been dancing the tango in the Triangle for five years and has toured extensively both in the United States and abroad. He and his partner (and wife) Gulden Ozen met through the group.

A group of performers from Orange High School will demonstrate "stepping," which derives its rhythms and forms from African-American culture. The step team was started in 2000 and is made up of eight girls ranging in age from 14 to 18. The group has performed in both regional and state competitions. Its acting coach and captain senior student is Nadia Moffet. The group has worked out some great routines that they will share at the dinner.

Performing music of another era will be members of the Village Revue, a group of senior citizens directed by Jennie Capparella whose ages range from 60 to 87 and who perform between 35 and 40 shows a year for churches and senior residential facilities. The group's dance troupe will perform its version of "Freight Train," and two of the group's singers, Patricia Dunne-North and C. Bradford Johnson, will give solo performances accompanied on both the piano and the accordion by Renata Uden.

Johnson, a native of Raleigh, was raised by a mother who was a European-trained opera singer and who trained all four of her sons to sing. He has performed in many Raleigh musicals and was the lead singer both in his college band and choir at Villanova University. Dunne-North was raised in County Tipperary, Ireland. She has been dancing and singing since she was 5. At the age of 16 she was the dance champion of Ireland. Prior to moving to the United States seven years ago, she lived in England, where she worked first as a professional model and then as a Royal Family photographer. She works in the International Office at Duke University.

These random notes should suggest the rich cultural diversity that characterizes our local world. Too often these worlds have been sealed off from each other. One of the pleasures of the dinner is to watch, eat with, eat like, and chat with members of other groups.

Many local groups (some of whom will be represented at tables in the hallway leading to the dinner) make this event and its attendant publicity possible. For example, large posters were designed and assembled by the residents of Carol Woods Retirement Community while the table decorations have been made by Emerson Waldorf School students. The dinner's main sponsors are the Cultural Arts Group, the Carrboro Branch Library, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, the Orange County Department of Human Rights and Relations, the N.C. Humanities Council and Mama Dip's Kitchen with support from many local churches, schools, patrons, businesses, organizations and community groups.

Tickets are on sale at the Carrboro Branch Library, Mama Dip's Kitchen, the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill (Horace Williams House), The Chapel Hill News, the Chapel Hill Museum Shop, The Inkspot in Carrboro, Market Street Books and Maps in Southern Village, and the Orange County Department of Human Rights and Relations, 110. S. Churton St, Hillsborough.

Given the scale and popularity of the event and the limited number of seats available in comparison with the demand, advance tickets are recommended. Adult tickets are $7.50; those for children under 10 are $3.50. For information call the Carrboro Branch Library at 969-3006. To volunteer to help, give food donations or to sponsor tickets for needy families, call 932-1533 or at 942-7818. The snow date for the dinner is Feb. 16 at 1:30 p.m.

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En Espanol

Cena de la Comunidad, Domingo 9 de Febrero a la 1:30, McDougle Middle School, Carrboro. Venga a celebrar la diversidad en nuestra comunidad. Si no habla Ingles, favor de llamar a Cristobal Palmer, 914-1816.

Cutline(s): Jason Laughlin and Gulden Ozen will demonstrate the tango at the sixth annual Community Dinner on Feb. 9 at McDougle Middle School. Laughlin teaches the tango at the ArtsCenter.