NEW HAVEN — Screaming and shouting: things that are usually associated with terror, but not for the Nonnewaug French students at Southern Connecticut State University on Oct. 30.
With an atmosphere more like Las Vegas than New Haven thanks to flashing lights surrounding the auditorium, Canadian chanter — or rapper — Flo Franco and his brother DJ Scorpion had nearly 1,500 students singing along.
“It was so fun,” junior Juliana Bailey said. “[Flo Franco] isn’t a huge popular artist, but it was still really fun to hang out with people from our school and other schools. It was really a good time.”
There weren’t just French students on the trip; junior Spanish student Kelly Farrell was among the crowd, soaking up the chance to hear the unique French rap.
“It was a lot of fun to be able to go to the concert despite not being in French,” Farrell said. “It let me learn a little about the other language that I’m not taking and have a little appreciation for both.”
The credit for this opportune field trip and all of the planning behind it goes to Kate Peterson, the French teacher at Nonnewaug who knew she wanted to make it an unforgettable experience.
“Tremendously successful trip,” Peterson said. “It was an amazing experience to see — so many of us were in that room together, and it was so powerful because everyone was celebrating all things French. It was a special time. Flo Franco was set on spreading French culture and passion, and he did it so well.”
Fans of Flo Franco were even given the chance to sing into the microphone, and he gave many around the stage a fist bump or high five, leaving students with a desire for this rapper to return.
“He’s an artist from another country,” Bailey said. “It was definitely fun to see him perform at SCSU, which is so close to us. I hope that we’ll have other events we can go to sometime soon — especially if it’s Flo.”
