With high-energy music, colorful, sparkling costumes and acts ranging from traditional Indian dance to modern rock music, the South Asian Student Alliance show entertained a packed audience of more than 900 people in Cahn Auditorium Saturday evening.
Thirteen of Northwestern’s dance and musical groups and more than 170 students participated in the ninth annual cultural event. Deeva Dance Troupe’s jazz and hip-hop infused moves, Bhangra Dance Team’s traditional Indian dancing and Rum Lotus’ modern alternative rock were just a few of the performances.
“I like to think we had a good diversity (of acts) this year, not just dance groups,” said McCormick junior Sahil Mehta, co-organizer of the event.
The show began with three acoustic songs by indie-pop singer and songwriter Sid Sriram. Other musical groups, such as the South Asian fusion a cappella group Brown Sugar and Stomp-inspired Dhoom, were interspersed between the many dance numbers.
In between acts, emcees entertained the audience with on-stage skits and video clips, acting as crew members searching for the real, kidnapped emcee. This was part of the show’s theme, “The Show Must Go On.”
“The seniors that tried out for emcee this year, this was their idea,” Mehta said. “We started pounding it out more and came up with the idea that ‘the show must go on.’ We like affiliating events with music that people can recognize.”
Traditional dance combined with more contemporary music and dance styles for performances done by each grade. The second to last performance, the seniors’ self-titled “Senior Tsunami,” got some of the biggest crowd response.
Weinberg senior Ritika Singh has joined in the class dances for four years.
“Whoever wants to participate can,” she said. “Usually a lot of kids do it, so it’s a fun activity.”
Many audience members had attended the show before. Some who came out again to support their friends were not disappointed.
“I think this year was better,” said second-year audience member and Weinberg senior Christine Adams.
The show’s organizers made it a priority to give each group more on-stage rehearsal time than in previous years to make sure all performances ran smoothly, Mehta said.
Singh said the show provided an opportunity to bring the South Asian community closer.
“I like this because everyone, despite the fact of their commitments or whatever they’re doing, they make time to have fun,” she said. “I never actually had dance experience before coming to school, but everyone has a little spark in them. When you get on stage, you shine.”
