The first act of the night that I witnessed was the Indian Students Association’s modern dance. Adrienne Bruce ’08, Marc Montana ’07, Chiamaka Nwaizu ’07, and Nehal Patel ’06 performed a bhangra dance dressed in bright green and red fabric outfits of the same name. They also had green handkerchiefs called rammal attached to both hands that added to the visual aesthetics. The entire performance was full of energy, and the audience responded well with cheers throughout the songs. I felt like the dancing wasn’t about executing perfect steps but rather about the music and what it means to their culture.

The short bursts of emcees Ikenna Okoli ’07 and Sharran Deora ’06 between acts added to the show’s overall humor. Rather than dead space between set changes, the emcees told jokes, showed off their dancing skills, and gave away free t-shirts. One of the t-shirts was given away provided someone could answer just how many hats Okoli owns. After a few minutes of guessing, someone arrived at the answer of 60 hats. When he refused to get on stage to accept the shirt, however, it was awarded to someone else. This is just a taste of some of the silly antics Okoli and Deora pulled off.

The fifth act of the night was the MASA dancing girls, who performed both modern and traditional dances. Initially there were six girls, sometimes split into two groups of three who executed the tarian endang dance of coordination while in a sitting position. At the end of the traditional dances, the music sped up as the two groups performed the different aspects of the routine simultaneously faster and faster. The final song was a pop piece entitled, “Bagaikan Puteri (Like a Princess).” There were poses incorporated into the dance when the tempo of the song changed.

The show changed gears a bit with a video from the Chinese American Students Association. They played off the popular Super Bowl commercials such as the Career Builder office monkeys. The CASA pill depression video, however, was the most in depth, with Henry Kwan ’07 as the depressed student in need of friends and intelligence. The humor came when someone off-screen threw a yellow ball symbolizing the pill at Kwan’s crotch, and he roared in pain over and over as they slowed it down each time it was replayed.

After intermission with food provided by Hong Kong Bakery, graduate student He Zhang of the Chinese Students Association played “Spring in Xinjiang” or “Xin Jiang Zhi Chun” on the violin. The beautiful song is meant to describe the scenery after a cold winter in the province of Xinjiang. He performed the song very gracefully and gave a quick bow to each side before scurrying off the stage.

The Rensselaer Bengali Community was next with a fashion show showcasing formal and casual wear for both men and women. The styles ranged from village to traditional to Bengali New Year. The most common clothing for women was the sari that varied in colors, designs, and the way it was worn based on the occasion. The more formal men’s outfits included the kurta, a longer dress shirt worn with different pants also depending on how formal the event is. Uzair Memon ’08 and Sreoshy Banerjea ’09 modeled the formal wear, a kurta and lahenga, respectively.

The Philippine American League performed the Tinikling dance meant to imitate the tikling bird’s grace and speed avoiding bamboo traps laid out by rice farmers. The dance started out displaying the traditional Filipino culture and evolved into contemporary dance with the Black Eyed Peas’ “Pump It” allowing the dancers to incorporate hip-hop. The fast footwork needed to avoid the bamboo was impressive and provided thrilling entertainment.

The pace of the night shifted once again as the C.H.A.R.M.S. Asian sorority acted out “Pride,” a skit about stereotyping in the media. Kimmie Johnson ’07 played Jen, who was assumed to be intelligent because she is Asian. Her boyfriend Dave (David Armandt ’06) was only dating her because he assumed she would help him study. The Asian All-Stars came to the rescue to teach Jen about cultural pride while displaying a few other stereotypes. When Mei Ping, portrayed by Evily Cao ’08, was announced, the audience couldn’t help but laugh as the announcer referred to her as the artist, “which in Asian terms means she paints nails.”

The Asian Awareness Weekend crew continued the dancing with hip-hop performances to songs by Ciara, Omarion, and Marques Houston. The routines were rather involved and full of energy. Pi Delta Psi finished out the show with their rendition of “Tikki Tikki Tembo,” which goes through the story of why Chinese families give their children shorter names. They set it up like a “Law and Order” episode in the beginning and followed the fate of Sam (Brady Chan ’07) and Tikki (Daniel Wong ’07) as each fell into the well. Basically, Sam was rescued because of his short name, but it took too long to relay the message about Tikki so he didn’t survive.