The South Asian Students Association called this year's cultural show "Masti," a Hindi word meaning "fun and energetic." The event, held Friday night in a packed Salomon 101, lived up to the name as it showcased 18 acts and included nearly 100 performers.
"The show is a representation of what that culture means to many different students - sometimes this involves sticking strictly to the traditional South Asian culture, and sometimes this means portraying a culture that fuses both the South Asian and American experience," SASA Events Committee Co-Chair Seema Vora '06 told The Herald.
The night began with a "face-off" between Kathak, a North Indian classical dance form, and Step, the rhythmic and stomping dance form that is popular within African American communities.
Former Herald Senior Editor Kavita Mishra '04, wearing bells on her ankles and traditional dress, demonstrated the quick footwork of Kathak and engaged in a back-and-forth game of imitation with the step team, whose black, clunky boots provided an interesting contrast to Mishra's bare feet.
Among the first-act performances was a short segment of a Varnam, which choreographer Arya Shekar '05.5 said is normally 35 to 40 minutes long. Performed by Shekar and Praveen Basaviah '05, the piece captured the intriguing and graceful forms of the Hindu epic figures Krishna and Radha.
The two performers moved with fluidity and startling quickness and created a dynamic between each other with expressive eye glances, coordinated to the beat of the music.
Dramatic gestures in the Varnam mimic the rhythmic vocal sounds of the "nattavungam" technique used in the music. "The sounds don't actually mean anything - they're just important for their aesthetic," Shekar said. "It's an integral part of the style of dance and is something every dancer eventually has to learn."
Shekar, who took a semester off last spring to study dance in India, said the piece exhibited her first attempt at choreography. "In the process I learned a bit about myself, my 'dance sense,' how I'm trying to develop and where I need improvement," she said.
Shekar said SASA participants strive every year for community involvement among both South Asians at Brown and the student community at large.
"I think this was the most people I've ever seen involved in the show in my time at Brown," she said. "It's also pretty telling that each year alumni come back to see it and support us. It's a fun challenge to work with so many people, and the best part of it is meeting new people and solidifying friendships in the process."
Through a series of personal monologues, members of the South Asian Women's Collective honored women who have kept tradition in their lives. The student speakers, who are part of a more progressive generation, shared humorous and heartfelt anecdotes about the ways traditional Hindu views of women have put a subtle strain on their family relationships.
"We don't want to grow up to be like them, but we admire them," Bharati Kalasapudi '07 said.
With an accompanying slideshow, Parendi Mehta '07 described a much-loved grandmother whose beliefs in arranged marriages and honoring the first-born son was distancing for her granddaughters.
When on the phone with Mehta's family, it was her 22-year-old, first-born grandson to whom Mehta's grandmother wanted most to talk.
"But as long as she's smiling on the other half of the world, it doesn't matter," Mehta said.
Neel Shah '04, an acoustic guitar singer/songwriter, performed an instrumental guitar piece inspired by the timbre and melodic patterns of sitar music.
The second act of the show included a fashion show, a medley of Bollywood classics and group performances infused with both Western and Indian music and dance. Performers in a bhangra dance routine choreographed by Basaviah said, "We are dhol addicts," referring to the principal drum used to create the beats in bhangra music.
Bhangra is an energetic folk dance from the Punjab region of India and is used to celebrate the seasons and rains, Basaviah told The Herald. "Indian music, whether it be bhangra, classical or Bollywood, has been heavily influencing and being influenced by western music, like hip-hop," he said.
Audience members were vocal about their excitement for the group acts, which included acrobatic feats with dancers suspended and swinging from the shoulders of other dancers.
"Everyone who hears bhangra music can't help but fall in love with it," Basaviah said. "It just makes you want to get up and dance forever to such tight beats."
SASA president Rashmi Kudesia '04 told The Herald the annual show allows members of the South Asian community to share a culture that has been somewhat misrepresented in American society.
"South Asia is entering the mainstream American consciousness, politically skewed through media coverage of nuclear arming, outsourcing and so forth," he said. "Culturally, our heritage gets distorted through the usage of religious and ethnic images by Madonna and on lunchboxes and disrespectful clothing and other consumer products.
"Each culture has a lighter side, and the celebratory nature of dance and song in South Asia is a major part of what I hope the audience perceived," Kudesia added.
Audience member Samuel Hodges '04 said he knew many of the performers and that a virtue of the show was its inclusion of many students. "Feeling the excitement coming out of the senior dance, as I watched people who I've enjoyed to know over the past four years pour out emotions with the promise of their last semester here, really moved me," he said.
