By Annie Walsh

One of my greatest intentions while studying abroad was to receive a meaningful engagement with the host culture. Upon my arrival to Britain, I thought: what better way to achieve this than to indulge in the aspects of British culture through fashion, museum art, and dance?

The first art form I dove into was a fashion show held by Royal Holloway University to raise money for a local hospital in the United Kingdom. The managerial and creative team decided to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital. The team held auditions for models and decided on a theme for the show: “Capture.” It featured movie-inspired outfits that included British films such as The Great Escape, and I got a part walking as a model in a section of the show.

Of course, in order to be familiar with the character-inspired outfits, I watched the films that inspired it. Once they had created the team of models, stylists, buyers, and make-up artists, they began the exciting process of creating outfits inspired by the films. Each outfit was designed by a fashion student of the university and therefore, had a touch of British culture. I learned a lot from the designers about what is currently in style when it comes to British fashion, something that I had no knowledge of or experience with.

Not only did the models have the job of walking down the runway, but they were also required to do a bit of fundraising. Some of the Capture Fashion Show team went down to Egham to fundraise for this year’s show at Egham’s Night Market and sold a range of homemade gifts such as bunting, heart decorations and decorated pegs, all of which were made by the show’s director, Emily Green, and her family. I truly felt immersed in the British culture when we were fundraising because I was selling homemade artifacts to British locals.  Between the art of designing British fashion and homemade goods, I was able to compare the culture with my own and learn a lot about fashion here in the United Kingdom.

My next conquest was to participate in a dance class. When I went to sign up for a class I was informed that the organization was looking for volunteers to travel to a local town to teach children an elementary level of dance.  As a former dance teacher, I was thrilled to accompany the British dance teachers and learn about their styles of teaching dance and expression to children.

The British instructors began the class with a warm up to none other than a One Direction song, and the children went crazy with happiness. We continued the class with traditional stretches to warm up and some “across the floor” exercises. The structure of the class was very similar to that of an American-lead dance class.

When it came to the choreography however, it was vastly different. There were several different types of moves such as a quick step with peculiar bounces and a hip thrust. In a way, it could have been similar to the typical American hip hop children’s routine, but it had a slightly different style for the type of culture who created it.

Nevertheless, it was extremely thrilling to be in a British town, amongst British dancers, helping teach the fundamentals of dance.

Next, I stumbled upon a Museum in Oxford that tied together the themes of art in contemporary British culture, and the similar aspects that unify the world we live in. Founded in 1683, the Ashmolean Museum is Britain’s oldest museum. The collections are displayed under the theme “Crossing culture, crossing time.” This angle possesses a proposition that cultures interact with and influence one another across time and geography. By looking at artifacts in the collection this way, the museum aims to both inform and challenge, while presenting new ideas and questions about the people and cultures whose art and history are on display.

Keeping this idea in mind, I began to connect some strong similarities between American and British culture and found an overwhelming amount of parallels. As history shows, many Americans came from England, and therefore, many traditions were upheld that connect the cultures such as fashions, theater, and even dance.