The beat of Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” filled the room as a wave of hoots and screams erupted from the audience. Bright, blinding flashes of light from cameras exploded from a long rows of seats. On the runway, models of all different sizes and shapes danced and sang their way down the catwalk.
The first annual “Night of Essence,” a program part of the fourth annual weekend-long Venus Festival held at the University, kicked off Saturday evening in the EMU ballroom. The festival consisted of workshops, some of which were hosted by Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy, and activities dedicated to women’s issues and the well-being of women.
“Tonight is a celebration of the differences in our world and in our lives,” said co-host Anthony Cain.
Piercy and state Senator Vicki Walker hosted workshops on Friday and Saturday discussing the importance of women in leadership and some of the hurdles those women face.
“It’s important for women to be in leadership positions because they bring a little different voice to the situation,” Piercy said in an interview.
“I’m just an everyday woman who has found herself in a leadership position, and I definitely understand the importance of having women in those positions,” she said.
Xina Sy, the keynote speaker for Saturday’s event, gave a speech centered on the meaning of essence and its importance and on how people define themselves in today’s society.
“Essence is the very depth and true meaning of a person, thing, place, or being,” said Sy, who is the creator and founder of a self-help company for women’s programs called Women’s Empowerment Inc. and who has written articles for O, the Oprah Magazine.
“If we define ourselves externally, we lose ourselves internally,” she said.
Sy said in an interview that she wanted to shift young people’s focus from external beauty to internal beauty.
Despite minor technical difficulties, the event’s hosts made it through the introduction and the Night of Essence began with a solo a cappella performance of Aretha Franklin’s “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by undergraduate Felecia Wheatfall.
A group of four women performed a poem called “Phenomenal Woman.” Emily Martin, Gabriela Leon, Cassandra Bennett and Adrienne Bennett incorporated a mix of dance and poetry into their performance.
University a cappella singing group Divisi followed with a performance of four songs, including a cover of The Cranberries’ “Dreams.”
The fashion show began after the performances, showcasing a variety of diverse models of all shapes and sizes – including one pregnant model – who strutted and danced down the runway as they sang along to the music.
The entire fashion show consisted of more than 100 outfits, according to the program for the event. After the last models finished, the entire cast of models, singers and poets stepped out on the runway wearing shirts that said “The essence of beauty is beyond the clothes.”
“It’s a great benefit,” said University junior Cheryl Malasig, who attended the event to support some of her friends who appeared as models in the show. “It shows that beauty is in no way just skin deep.”