Celebratory spectaculars at Yale

Thanksgiving Dinner at Yale

While holidays may feel a bit lonely, especially when separated from family and home, the wonderful Yale community ensures that no one feels left out. Recently, I experienced Day of the Dead at Yale and had a proper Thanksgiving dinner before returning home for break.

My only prior exposure to Day of the Dead was from my high school Spanish class, so it was amazing to experience my classmates’ paying homage to the Mexican holiday of Día de los Muertos through captivating dance and striking spoken word.

After walking to the basement of Morse College, I entered the Crescent Underground Theater for a special collaborative performance by three student groups affiliated with the La Casa cultural center: Oye Spoken Word, MEChA, and Ballet Folklórico. The performance promoted MEChA’s project for social justice in the New Haven community. Oye gave a heart-moving performance through personal stories related to the topic of death. The poems were deeply personal and created a tight sense of community in the intimate setting.

Spoken word poetry on stage
Passionate poems accompanied by festive costumes

Afterwards, Ballet Folklórico showcased the different folk dances of Mexico. Some dances were all men, others all women, while others were partner dances, showing all the different dances for different occasions.

Colorful dance from Ballet Folklorico
Colorful partner dance on full display

Partner dance on stage
Sentimental partner performance with detailed candle prop!

A few days later, Yale Hospitality hosted a special Thanksgiving dinner at each residential college. Each dinner was family style, inviting all the residential college fellows and residential families to enjoy the feast with the students. The hospitality staff cooked up a lavish dinner with all the traditional Thanksgiving foods and multiple pies to choose from. It was wonderful to see everyone in the residential college together and prepare for the Thanksgiving break.

Thanksgiving feast
Community gathering over great food

Bread galore
Bread galore!