While many may have watched the lighting of the Christmas tree on central campus last week, this week there will be a different type of holiday celebration.

The ISU Minority Theatre Workshop will be presenting a Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration, tomorrow starting at 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Theater. Admission is free.

There will also be a special presentation by Ames Few Dance and Theatre Co.

Kwanzaa, an African-American holiday, was started by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966. Karenga, a college professor, based the principles of Kwanzaa on the cultural theory called Kawaida.

Shirley Basfield Dunlap, director of ISU’s Minority Theater Workshop will be directing the Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration. The Ames Few Dance and Theatre Co. will do a welcome dance named “afunga.” There will also be drummers from the Ames Few Dance and Theatre Co.

“We’re going to be presenting Kwanzaa,” Dunlap said. “Each class member will do a folk tale that will center around the seven principles of Kwanzaa.”

The seven principles of Kwanzaa in English and Swahili go in this order: 1. Unity (umoja), 2. Self-Determination (kujichagulia), 3. Collective Work and Responsibility (ujima), 4. Cooperative Economics (ujamaa), 5. Purpose (nia), 6. Creativity (kuumba), and 7. Faith (imani).

“The folk tales will illustrate how we can use the principles and how we can integrate them in today’s society,” Dunlap said. “We shouldn’t use them just for Kwanzaa, but all year round.”

There will be eight class members from the minority workshop in the production. They have been working on the production since October, and they have already presented to an audience.

“We presented the play to Indianola Middle School,” Dunlap said. She said they had a great time performing at the school and the attendance of 800 seemed to enjoy it also.

The ISU Minority Theatre Workshop’s future production is the play “The Media Myth,” which is scheduled for February at Fisher Theater. Dunlap will be the director of the play.

“We invite everyone to come out to the production, which is free to the public,” Dunlap said.