Students Take to the Stage at IBSO Talent Show
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A group of IB seniors perform a skit on the origins of the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.
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Jackson Freeman ’17 and Akshay Aggarwal ’17 announce the next performance in the show.
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Jonathan Qi ’17 performs a variation of a piece by Mozart.
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Sanjana Bettadpur ’18, Persephone Tian ’18, and Shreya Nakkala ’18 sing “Helpless” from the ‘Hamilton’ musical.
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Sindhura Sridhar ’17 performs a traditional Indian dance.
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Ashley D’Souza ’17 sings a mashup of “Skinny Love” and “Young and Beautiful” accompanied by Anne Chow ’17 on piano.
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Nammu Srinath ’17 performs “Listen” by Beyoncé.
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IB students were able to showcase their talents outside the classroom through the student-led 12th annual International Baccalaureate Student Organization (IBSO) Talent Show, held on Friday, Jan. 20 in the cafeteria. Acts ranged from unique piano pieces to a game of blindfolded chess.
“It’s a tradition — I love seeing everybody having fun, there’s probably worries about studies but it’s in the back of everyone’s minds,” IB Coordinator Stephanie Childress said. “This is my favorite night of the year.”
The first act began with a performance by Breakdance club, and was followed by a performance of Beyoncé’s “Listen” by Nammu Srinath ‘17 and a game of blindfolded chess, played by Andrew Lu ‘18 and Kush Desai ‘18. Desai acted as the eyes during the online game of chess, providing information about their opponents’ moves, while Lu sat on stage, blindfolded, giving instructions to Desai.
While in previous years many students have chosen to play piano pieces, Jonathan Qi ‘17 decided to mix it up by playing Mozart’s “Rondo Alla Turca” with a unique twist. The major minors of the piece were switched so that all of the major key sections became minor, and all of the minor key sections became major.
“I remember there were several music comedians that I really admire, and one of them actually did something similar to this, so I thought it’d be cool to apply the same trick to this piece,” Qi said.
A senior skit on the origins of IB marked the end of act one, where students impersonated IB teachers and took a mythical approach on how the IB program began.
“We were starting to think about some kind of hero’s journey, and we had a lot of ideas so we decided to compile them into one story,” Riley Nelson ‘17, who played IB European History teacher Kelly Saenz, said. “I wasn’t in the talent show last year, but just being a senior and performing for one of the last few times is a little weird. I’m gonna miss that stage.”
During intermission, parents and students were able to view an art exhibit, featuring the artwork of students such as Akash Thakkar ‘17 and Grace Yu ‘17. Striking photos and drawings were displayed throughout the cafeteria.
The second act got off to an exciting start with a performance by the K-Pop club, and was followed by an impressively detailed sand art video by Elva Ye ‘17. Using sand placed on a lightbox, Ye drew dynamic scenes from Alice in Wonderland. The night ended on a sentimental note, with the seniors going on stage to sing “Keep Your Head Up” by Andy Grammer.
“It feels good [to be an IB senior],” Srinath said. “It’s sad because it’s my last talent show, but it feels good.”
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