Student Programming Council of Biscayne Bay Campus hosts ‘Kompa Night’

By Amanda Bazil

Kompa Night took place Feb. 3 in the Wolfe University Center ballrooms, and the spacious venue was a perfect fit, as over 400 people were in attendance, according to Kaila Jospitre, president of HSA and senior majoring in marketing.

When the night began, things were off to a slow start. Soon, many well-dressed men and women began to populate the room, yet, a lot of them were reluctant to enter the dance floor.  It took Host Chelo Chelo and his humorous nature to break the ice, and once Haitian band Harmonik’s “Cheri Benyen’M” broke out, so did everyone else out of their shells.   

As the crowd grew lively, the dancing was quickly interrupted by a performance by HSO’s Tou Cho (Too Hot) Dance Troupe. The group of four paired off into two couples and had everyone speechless.

Their name is more than appropriate as the performance was sizzling. Soon after that, everyone was inspired to show out on the dance floor.

Every person either had a partner, or comfortably danced solo while still managing to hit that gouyad, a Kreyol term Haitians use to describe the sensuous dance movements.

With performers like Phyllisia Ross, J-Beatz, and TanTan present, it was impossible for anyone to stand still. Each artist had the crowd singing word for word, and a few lucky ladies were either pulled on the stage to dance with their favorite artist, or affectionately given a rose.

A little before the Kompa jams carried the night away, delectable Haitian food, catered by Fort Lauderdale Chef Tina Lee, was served first. Before the festivities even came to an official start, the lines were already at least 70 or 80 people deep.

The wait seemed tedious but a bite of the diri djon djon (black rice and beans), griot (fried pork), chicken, turkey, macaroni and cheese, and roasted broccoli was a reminder that it was very much worth it.

This single night was a whirlwind experience — it took you from romantic ballads and well-known Caribbean classics and the latest hip hop tracks to Kanaval, also known as Carnival.

Kompa Night surpassed my expectations. In an event like this, you can really see that all hands were on deck and played its part.

“You need a solid and dedicated team, and that’s exactly what we had,” says Sedania Julmis, vice president of SPC and junior majoring in chemistry, as she reflected and gave praise to those who aided to Kompa Night’s success.