{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”7f4a3446-972d-11e6-bc72-5b86e8bbd155″}}

The Student Entertainment Board (SEB) brings the Shades of Black show, which originated in Moscow, to Pullman tonight.

Sarah Sehrt, SEB Spotlight Programmer, has been working with the Shades of Black show management to make this event happen on campus. She believes this an important show to be put on for WSU students.

“SEB Spotlight is all about student talent,” she said. “The Shades of Black show is all student talent. It’s a part of what SEB Spotlight is. It’s a very important event for what we’re about.”

This show was created in 2004 by Kwapi Vengesayi, a University of Idaho alumnus. He put this program together to bring Cougs and Vandals to the same stage and create a diverse community.

“It’s good for those who participate,” he said, “because it creates a family and a network by getting them to talk to people they wouldn’t have otherwise.”

Each performance in the Shades of Black show is different from the last. This is because the students are the ones who write what they will perform, while the team at Shades of Black mentors them, Vengesayi said. The students get to bring problems that are relevant to them to the stage.

The shows not only reflect the students participating in them, but the schools that get to experience the performance.

“Each show takes up the personality of the school,” Vengesayi said. “WSU’s personality is very spoken word and poetic.”

The Shades of Black show is an emotional experience for those on stage and those in the audience, Vengesayi said.

“Audience members are going to get feelings of surprise when they see their classmates up on stage,” he said. “They’ll be surprised at the stories that they hear, and they’ll be surprised at the immense amount of talent they didn’t realize their classmates had.”

Shades of Black strives to provide a judgement-free environment for its performers. Sehrt agrees this event is great for the students for this reason.

“Shades of Black give students a chance to come and show off their talent in an environment where everyone is comfortable and supportive,” Sehrt said.

The Shades of Black show will begin at 6:30 p.m. tonight in the CUB Senior Ballroom. Admission is free and open to the public.

“To me, Shades of Black is a reflection of who we want to be as a community and as a country,” Vengesayi said. “From a subjective viewpoint it’s love, it’s passion, it’s hope, it’s family, it’s togetherness.”