Melissa Calixte ’26, the co-coordinator for Bryant University’s 2025 i2i performance, remembers the first time she attended the annual culture and performance show as a first-year student. “I remember being amazed at everything I’d seen because we didn’t have anything like that at my high school,” she says.
The performance itself was dazzling, but it was the performers who truly captured her attention, Calixte notes. “I fell in love with it because it was so cool to see those brave students get on the stage in front of a whole crowd of people and dance and share something that was so important to them,” she says.
The following year, Calixte was no longer watching from the audience. She joined the i2i production and introduced and directed a new scene focusing on Caribbean music and dance that celebrated her own heritage. That felt even more special than the previous year, she admits, because it gave her a chance to contribute something of her own.
Now, as the major events coordinator for Bryant’s International Student Organization (ISO), which presents the show each year, she helped lead the nearly 70 students who brought i2i 2025 to life both on stage and behind the scenes. Featuring seven scenes devoted to Africa, Europe, South Korea, India, Latin America, the United States, and the Caribbean, the production took the audience on a global tour without leaving the university’s Smithfield, RI, campus.
One of Bryant’s most popular traditions, i2i is also one of its most important, Calixte says. “The show is about more than entertainment. Music is such a powerful way to express our different traditions and cultures and history with one another.”
“Every year, around the week before the show, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, why did I do this?’ But when it comes together, you remember, ‘This is why’ — and you can’t wait to do it all over again.”
Each year, the students reimagine the production — from the dances to the songs to the structure of the show — which makes it even more meaningful for them. As Calixte did by adding a Caribbean scene, they get to share something from the heart.
But i2i is also a perfect channel to broaden your horizons, Calixte says. Because the show is open to everyone, each scene is performed by students from a wide mix of backgrounds, which means they’re discovering traditions beyond their own. Whether you’re on stage or in the audience, i2i is “a way to step out of your shell and your own experiences. It gives you a different perspective on all of the communities around you and connects you with the people around you.”
The production is a massive undertaking each year, with students — some of whom have very little or no prior experience performing — devoting long hours to choreography, staging, and rehearsal. “Every year, around the week before the show, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, why did I do this?’” Calixte admits with a laugh. “But when it comes together, you remember, ‘This is why’ — and you can’t wait to do it all over again.”
When the curtain rises, and you’re in the moment, Calixte says, the power of the show and what it means washes over you — it’s all about being part of a deeply connected community and feeling empowered to share who you are. “Having such a supportive crowd is what makes it so much fun to do,” she says. “When you’re behind the scenes waiting for your turn, you start to feel nervous and all you can think is, ‘Oh my gosh.’ But then you hear the crowd cheering for the scene in front of you, and that fills you with so much confidence because you know they’ll support you.”
And that support, she says, extends after the final bow. “When the show ends, I hope everyone focuses on how they feel at that moment,” says Calixte. She hopes they remember how it felt to connect with others — and that they’ll want to relive that feeling again and again.
Here’s a look at i2i 2025’s World Tour Concert:
