By Natalie Tapaskar
Contributing Writer
The sounds of Indian drums, Filipino dance beats and East Asian hip hop filled Parkes Hall on Friday night during the fourth Taste of nuAsia celebration.
nuAsia brought together several of Northwestern’s cultural groups to perform in front of nearly 100 attendees to showcase NU’s versatility in the performing arts. The Asian Pacific American Coalition organizes this event each year to display students’ talents.
“The event is a way to showcase the creative talent of Northwestern students,” said Weinberg senior Jason Eng, the group’s president. “We really want students to come and support friends and maybe watch a performance that they normally wouldn’t have gone to see, since these groups are so different from each other.”
The Taste of nuAsia featured performances by Treblemakers, Raas Team, Hawaii Club, Typhoon, Bhangra, Kaibigan and ReFresh.
The event showcased some very unique performances by dance groups, including Kaibigan and Raas Team. Kaibigan is a Northwestern Filipino student group that performs various traditional Filipino dances. Their performance incorporated couples dancing, interspersed with comedic relief during a skit about two lovers.
The Raas Team also incorporated a drama into their performance. Raas is an Indian dance form unique to the Indian festival of Navratri, a Hindu holiday. It originated as a dance that was performed in honor of an Indian goddess and portrays a mock-fight between her and a demon. The dance is unique because dancers use sticks, known as dandiyas, in a rhythmic pattern.
“I love watching Raas,” Weinberg freshman Sudha Ayala said. “The dancers are so lively, and the costumes create a great effect.”
This year’s event also featured a performance by Music junior Zeshan Bagewadi, Weinberg junior Mohammad Ahmad and Kayani Nabil, a graduate of DePaul University. Friday’s performance was the trio’s first time performing together, Bagewadi said.
“I really enjoyed (their) performance,” Ayala said. “I really wasn’t expecting so many people to be (at the event), but it was amazing nonetheless.”
When asked how the group decided to collaborate, Ahmad said it was one of those things in which he just said, “Let’s do this!”
Bagewadi, a voice major, gained audience approval with a vocal performance of “Mitwa,” a song from the Indian film Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna, with Ahmad on acoustic guitar and Nabil on the tabla, a type of drum.
Many of these groups will be performing again at Afropollo, an annual talent show hosted by the African Students Association, at 7 p.m. Friday in Ryan Family Auditorium.
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