Two cultural student groups hope to end Asian-American Heritage Month in style by holding celebratory events this weekend.
On Friday night, the Chinese Students Association will host its first annual fashion show at 9 p.m. in the Norris University Center’s Louis Room, and the South Asian Students Association will hold its annual spring show at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Technological Institute’s Ryan Auditorium.
The fashion show will feature 20 student models showcasing fashions from designers such as Club Monaco, Urban Outfitters and Express.
Serena Li, the group’s external chairwoman, said the association hopes 200 students will attend.
“We’ve gotten really positive feedback and everyone seems excited to see the show because of the work the models have done,” said Li, an Education sophomore. “We are hoping to start a tradition here with the fashion show. We saw that a lot of other universities were doing them, and that we didn’t have a big one.”
In addition to student models sashaying down the catwalk, the fashion show will be visually enhanced with two projection screens on each side of the platform.
Screens will broadcast special effects to promote clothes the models are wearing, Li said.
The cost of the event is $3 and all proceeds will go the Asian Youth Services, an after-school program for kids where some group members volunteer.
Amy Tang, the group’s outreach chairwoman, said the fashion show will be CSA’s first event to benefit a charity.
“We’ve been volunteering with AYS for a couple of months now, and we thought it would be a good time to help a good cause,” said Tang, a Weinberg sophomore.
This year’s SASA show, called AAJA Nachle, will feature a mix of traditional South Indian dances, such as the bhangra, with some entertaining and crowd-pleasing performances like belly dancing.
Ajay Tejwani, the group’s treasurer, said this is the first time the show will feature belly dancing.
Tejwani said about 80 dancers will grace the stage during the course of the event and about 500 people are expected to attend.
Tickets for SASA’s show are $5 for group members and $7 for non-members. The show is typically one of the best-attended cultural group events of the year.
