The South Asian Students Alliance’s Spring Show 2000 on Friday evening blew away more than just the audience — it took out the speaker system as well.

The 850 people who packed into Cahn Auditorium for SASA’s cultural smorgasbord of song and dance faced an impromptu intermission between the third and fourth acts when Cahn’s speakers blew and SASA board members scrambled to seek a sound solution.

Board members managed to haul SASA Treasurer Vikas Wadhwa’s speakers from his apartment to Cahn. Using a combination of the Weinberg sophomore’s speakers and an amalgam of amplifiers, a compact disc player and a walkman, SASA implemented a makeshift stereo system.

“At first it was stressful,” said McCormick freshman Chirag Chauhan, SASA’s cultural chairman and director of the show. “But when people started saying they could bring in amps, I thought, ‘Wow, we can put this together.'”

And in the end, SASA did manage to put on a smorgasbord of a show — a fusion of modernity and tradition — overcoming what SASA president Purvi Shah, an Education sophomore, called “an obstacle-filled night.”

“It’s cool how they managed to mix elements of both Eastern and Western traditions together and still make it relevant to Northwestern,” said Charley Ding, a Weinberg sophomore.

The first act, simply titled “Hip-Hop,” was anything but conventional South Asian dance.

During the number, limber dancers in blue and yellow shirts provocatively flipped and dipped their way across the stage to Sisqo’s “Thong Song” and other upbeat music.

“The hip-hop dance was amazing,” Ding said. “All the dancers seemed so enthusiastic. Their coordination and moves were fantastic.”

Brown Sugar, NU’s first South Asian a cappella group, which featured Hindi music with a Western twist, also premiered during the show. The co-ed crooners, looking slick in formal attire, sang its version of “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

Besides a fashion show and some solo performances, the Spring Show also included the Dandia Raas, a traditional Indian dance using sticks.

Performers did a reprise of the vibrant Raas set to techno music in a grand finale called “Illumination,” this time dancing in blacklight and creating a whirl of fluorescent orange and green from glow-in-the-dark bandannas and sticks.

“I thought (the show) was phenomenal,” said Alison Ouellette, a Weinberg freshman. “There are so many talented people who are so excited about sharing their culture.”

Besides exposing others to their culture, students of South Asian descent also took pride in performing and watching the show.

“I saw the show and I thought, ‘Yeah, that’s me, that’s part of who I am and how I grew up.” said Gaurav Verma, a McCormick freshman.

Chauhan said he was happy that all the acts were performed despite the sound difficulties.

“It went well for all the problems we faced,” Chauhan said. “I was so happy with the way we brought it together, with the way it came out in the end.”