This year's SASA cultural show "Rangeela" - held Saturday night in a sold-out Salomon 101 - was nothing if not colorful. Women in green and gold saris danced in circles around men wearing black and silver vests and trousers. Punjabi bhangra beats, Bollywood-inspired dance moves and hip-hop culture added to the effusive cacophony of sound and color that entertained a diverse audience for almost three hours.
The South Asian Students Association represents students from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. One light-hearted skit between acts filmed "Rangeela's "masters of ceremonies, Anoop Raman '05 and Rajiv Kumar '05, conducting a survey of Thayer Street pedestrians to test knowledge of South Asian geography. To the amusement of the audience - who at least by virtue of their attendance had some knowledge of the region - some of the interviewees proved unable to name any countries in South Asia.
While participants in the show were mainly South Asian, there were students wearing saris and dancing who were not. As one of the organizers, Reva Gaur '07 noted, "Anyone who has an act they think is appropriate for the show can audition it, as long as it pertains to South Asian culture in some form."
Gaur and fellow organizer Zara Matthews '07 discussed how the SASA show allowed first-years to bond with South Asian upperclassmen. The act of putting on the show, with many time-intensive rehearsals, helped to bring the community together.
And certainly the theme of the show was a fusion of the different cultures represented within the group. The first act was an original song titled "East and West Collide," which combined Nilay Patel's '08 rapping abilities with classical instruments and a traditional folk melody sung by Vivek Buch '08.
First-years opened the show, with an early act performed by Lana Zaman '08, who danced a classical Indian piece on the theme of summer. Zaman was a smiling, jaunty performer resplendent in a silver belt, jingling bracelets and anklets and bright purple costume.
The show moved through a series of dances specific to each region. "When the Drum Beats," choreographed by Seema Vora '06, showcased Raas, a dance from the Northern Indian state of Gujarat. It involved the beating of wooden sticks between the men and women dancing on stage as they skipped, jumped and weaved their way in between one another.
"I loved the Raas and the belly dancing. I was interested to learn about the different state folk dances," said Rachel Lauter '06, who was at the show supporting friends.
The Raas was performed to exuberant audience response, a plus considering that the emcees had earlier urged the audience to participate vocally and acrobatically - one emcee even told the audience to "gyrate" if they felt like it.
"The crowd is extremely diverse," said Jen Tan '07. "I think its great that so many people are interested in coming to see South Asian culture."
The South Asian Women's Collective commemorated South Asian writers, activists, athletes and media stars in their brief slideshow presentation, calling attention to such people as Arundhati Roy and Nandita Das.
A more light-hearted act was the short film "Jalebi Ki Pyar." Slow motion love scenes, a chase and a fake death had the audience laughing at the obvious stereotype of Hindi movies.
For many people, "Rangeela" was an opportunity to witness a wide diversity of dances. There was a Nepalese dance choreographed by Smirti Mallapaty '07, and Anna Chacon '08 choreographed a belly dance combined with Lebanese folk dance. Six women stood with colorful scarves over their heads as an Indian DJ danced through their midst, waking them from 3,000 years of sleep to a passionate hip-shaking, arm-waving dance in celebration of their freedom.
"We come every year. We love it. This is the first time we've seen a Lebanese dance - it is very exciting," said Mohini Roper P'06.
And even the technical difficulties that arose during the Senior Dance brought "Rangeela" dancers and audience members together, as they showed support for the seniors.
The first-years introduced their dance with a long personal film, but their energy and confidence on stage spoke to their certain ability to carry SASA's rich cultural traditions to new levels.
