The African Student Organization brought a night of elegance, mystery, and culture to Binghamton at their annual Afahye last Saturday. Hosted at 347 Prospect St., this year’s celebration was called “Afahye, Owambe: Malena Masquerade.”

“Afahye is our annual banquet where we come together and we showcase our African culture through dance, the decor, the story being told and the food to the Binghamton public and those that might not be in tune with Africa or in tune with the culture and things of that nature,” Jadesola Teriba, the president of ASO and a senior double-majoring in psychology and philosophy, politics and law said. “We throw this event to celebrate ourselves, as ‘Afahye’ does mean celebration. So we throw it to celebrate ourselves and to celebrate our culture and to show everybody that.”

While every Afahye celebrates rich and diverse cultures that originate from Africa, this year’s theme brought an air of mystique by incorporating the African tradition of masquerade dancing and allowing attendees to take part in the theme by wearing their own masks.

At 6:30 p.m., the doors opened and guests were invited to find a seat at one of the banquet tables adorned with black tablecloths and silver masks. Each table’s centerpiece had a vase decorated with beads and a mask with protruding feathers. On the ceiling, draped white fabric illuminated by string lights added a soft, elegant ambiance to the space.

The celebration commenced with an opening scene that featured a performance by Afahye’s masquerade dancer Chidi Okoro, a sophomore majoring in computer engineering. Okoro was dressed in a traditional costume with a mask and danced around the crowd, often coming face to face with audience members or crouching low to the ground and moving with long, sweeping strides.

Teriba explained the history and significance of masquerades and this year’s theme.

“In Africa, masquerades are kind of super scary and it’s something that’s like, ‘oh, if you’re a bad kid the masquerade will come and get you,’” Teriba said. “The dance is beautiful, but it’s kind of scary because of how they’re embodied and so we wanted to redefine it and show people it’s not scary — it’s cool, it’s interesting. The lore behind our culture is interesting.”

Afahye’s first performances were part of scenes that portrayed different aspects of the night’s story and masquerade theme, including the entrance, a love scene and a heartbreak scene. While the masquerade dancer was the central figure of Afahye, groups of performers, many of whom are a part of ASO, brought the night to life and told the story through various types of dance, including a theatrical floor show. An appearance from One World Dance Team, Syracuse University’s first and only African dance team, ended the night of dance performances.

Opportunities for audience engagement occurred throughout the event, ranging from a game of musical chairs with contestants who represented different countries to a scavenger hunt.

The celebration’s menu offered an array of African dishes. For appetizers, fried yam and pepper was distributed to each table. Later in the evening, entrees included Jollof, Indomie stir fry, peppered chicken gizzard and chicken sausage, fried turkey, gob3 and sweet plantains with garri and African salad. The dessert course featured milo cupcakes and malt.

The goal of the Afahye was to honor African culture as a whole through music, dance and food. To celebrate the African identities of many Afahye attendees, there was a roll call for each African country and those influenced by the African diaspora.

“Basically, we’re trying to shorten a very broad African culture of celebration as one event so that the Binghamton community can understand the African diaspora,” said Angel Okoro, ASO’s fundraiser and a junior majoring in electrical engineering.

The evening’s goal was to concentrate on a prevalent aspect of African culture.

“This event is more to show who we are and to show everyone’s culture because there’s so much culture in Africa,” Rana Larry, an intern for ASO and a sophomore majoring in philosophy, politics and law, said. “And it’s really hard to show each and every single one of them, but we try as hard to make sure everyone gets the time to show who they are and where they’re from.”

Teriba expressed the importance of the organization’s annual Afahye.

“Our goal is just to share our culture with the Binghamton community and let everybody in the diaspora know that we are here, and we wanna be heard,” Teriba said. “We wanna show you the great things that come from our culture and why we are so proud and have so much national pride in ourselves, and this event plays into it by doing just that. Showing the masquerade, we’re literally showing you our culture, and though some people might be scared, it’s not a scary thing, it’s moreso something that’s interesting that you should learn about.”