2008 Woodie Awards
IASA whirls, wows with two performances last weekend
Marie Eulalia
Issue date: 3/30/06 Section: Entertainment
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Exhilarating, upbeat and dynamic. Those are just a few words to describe the performance that the Indian Asian Student Association put on last Friday and Saturday night. The annual show, entitled East Side Story this year, was not just a cultural showcase of dancing, but a story of love-like that of an eastern rendition of Romeo and Juliet.
From the opening to the very end, I was captivated by the extremely high energy that each of the dancers put into his or her performance. Unfamiliar with Indian culture, I was impressed with the uniqueness of the dancing, music and fashion. The performance that I thought best captured all of India was the fashion show, for it portrayed each subculture within the diverse country. Composed of more than 28 different states, the fashion show highlighted the different traditions of dress in India, such as the traditional lengha and saris.
One dance I was impressed with was the Raas, a folk dance performed with partners and sticks. The constant hopping and lunging in this dance left even me, an audience member, breathless and exhausted!
In addition to their flawless performance was the hilarious skit written by Arun Idiculla, Saloni Nayar, Suraj Parulkar and Anand Srivastava. Set in India, the story is about two families feuding over a mango tree lying directly in the middle of their property lines. Only the love of their children, Ramesh and Juhi, played by Ram Rohatgi and Saloni Nayar, could unite the friendship that was once between the two families.
Using ideas and quotes from movies like Dodgeball and Billy Madison, the skit brought the audience into Indian life at home. Cleverly written, the skit was also used as a way to achieve transition between each of the dances. I thought this was a cute way to introduce each dance, but it also may have been the reason the show was more than three-and-a-half hours long. Toward the end, the audience eventually got anxious and was wondering how much longer before the show was over.
From the opening to the very end, I was captivated by the extremely high energy that each of the dancers put into his or her performance. Unfamiliar with Indian culture, I was impressed with the uniqueness of the dancing, music and fashion. The performance that I thought best captured all of India was the fashion show, for it portrayed each subculture within the diverse country. Composed of more than 28 different states, the fashion show highlighted the different traditions of dress in India, such as the traditional lengha and saris.
One dance I was impressed with was the Raas, a folk dance performed with partners and sticks. The constant hopping and lunging in this dance left even me, an audience member, breathless and exhausted!
In addition to their flawless performance was the hilarious skit written by Arun Idiculla, Saloni Nayar, Suraj Parulkar and Anand Srivastava. Set in India, the story is about two families feuding over a mango tree lying directly in the middle of their property lines. Only the love of their children, Ramesh and Juhi, played by Ram Rohatgi and Saloni Nayar, could unite the friendship that was once between the two families.
Using ideas and quotes from movies like Dodgeball and Billy Madison, the skit brought the audience into Indian life at home. Cleverly written, the skit was also used as a way to achieve transition between each of the dances. I thought this was a cute way to introduce each dance, but it also may have been the reason the show was more than three-and-a-half hours long. Toward the end, the audience eventually got anxious and was wondering how much longer before the show was over.