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Everyone in La Scuola D’Italia looks forward to March, the month in which the Gala is hosted. It takes place at Cipriani, the famous Italian restaurant located in downtown New York. It is known for its food, service, fanciness, and even a bit of history. I’ve only been to two Galas, but I can imagine last year was one of the best. The question is: was this Gala anyway similar to last year’s?

We started our 2008 Gala by singing our usual 3 national anthems (The American, Italian, and European Union ones). However, this year we added an extra song: Giussepe Verdi’s Nabucco. Both performances were great, although this year more people seemed to applaud. Last year, dinner started right after singing while this year we held an extra presentation after that. It was dedicated to the International Year of Astronomy. Students from all 4 grades of the Liceo gave a brief presentation on this topic.

Here is the video we played:

 

After this presentation, the dinner began for the kids. Cipriani seems to have been “Americanized” because they served French Fries and chicken. They kept a bit of Italy in the food with their pasta. This was a big change from last year’s “fancy” food. (Which I didn’t get to try, since I was selling raffle tickets)

The adults had to wait for the speakers to give their speeches. Among them there were Preside Anna Fiore and Consul General Francesco Talò. Last year’s speakers included Dr. Maiocco and Salvatore J. Zizza. (They gave brief, powerful speeches about the school). By that time last year, we were all already worn out from dancing and selling raffle tickets. After the speakers had finished, the food for the adults finally arrived. The kids had to wait for them to finish eating to start dancing, but we could see that the adults really wanted to dance, since they seemed to eat pretty fast. After the main course, dessert was brought out right in front of our eyes. Unfortunately, the kids could only get gelatos. No complaints though, because they were delicious. Finally the fun began. The dance floor was crowded, just like last year, but not for too long. I estimate we all danced for about 45 minutes this year.

So here is my final judgment: This time, we were excellent in preparing and giving our performances and the speakers were too, but this took some time away from what many people were looking forward to: entertainment and dancing. This year wasn’t bad, but the speeches given should have been shorter. Hopefully next year, we will have enough time to do a lot of performances, hear a speaker or two, and have enough time to dance.

Slide show of this year’s Gala: