Community gets a taste of Eastern culture at AsianFest

IU graduate and accomplished accordionist Sophia Travis normally performs in English and has spoken little Korean in recent years. But at AsianFest Saturday morning, Travis, who is half-Korean, sang primarily traditional Korean folk songs in the same language.\nTravis also spoke to the crowd at Showers Plaza at City Hall in Korean. She was one of the many performers at AsianFest, which featured dancing, singing and cooking demonstrations from a variety of Asian cultures. The IU Asian Culture Center organized the event, which was held in conjunction with the Bloomington Farmers' Market.\nThe dances attracted the largest crowds with an audience of more than 100 watching the fast-paced, high-energy maneuvers of the performers in traditional Asian costumes. \nThe Filipino Barangay Dance Troupe performed the Filipino national dance, the Tinikling, which is an imitation of the steps of a bird. During the performance, two people pushed long bamboo rods together along the ground, while a dancer skipped around them.\nOther dance performers included the Malaysian Dance Troupe from the Malaysian Student Association, the Filipino Barangay Dance Troupe and three Indian dance performers: graduate student Poornima Venkatakrishnan, who performed solo, University of Virginia student Rachana Kothare and Bloomington High School South student Sharada Subramaniam.\nThe Malaysian Dance Troupe, dressed mostly in black, waved traditional fans to cool off, while other performers made their way to air-conditioned City Hall.\n"As you can see, we're drenched," said Maria Mirasol, choreographer of the Filipino Barangay Dance Troupe based in Indianapolis, referring to the weekend's heat.\nMirasol said she was surprised not to see a better turnout because of Bloomington's diverse community, but was happy to see so many young children.\n"We really want to promote Filipino culture and to educate people, especially young kids," Mirasol said.\nOther performances included a hula demonstration from Carol Reynolds, a Korean percussion performance called Samulnori and a Taiji demonstration by Guo Lei, a Ph.D. student at HPER.\nGraduate student Jiangmei Wu said Lei performed the most difficult and most powerful form of Taiji, the Chen style. Wu, who studies Taiji under Lei, said his performance was particularly difficult because of the noise from the audience and the heat.\n"He did a good job, even though the conditions were not ideal," Wu said.\nThe cooking demonstrations, which took place inside City Hall, included dishes from Korea, China, the Philippines, Thailand and India. \nIU School of Optometry visiting scholar Sergio Barbero, who is originally from Spain and moved to Bloomington three weeks ago, said he especially enjoyed the Filipino rice cakes.\n"It was really good," Barbero said, referring to one of the cakes. "I think I will try to make it."\nThroughout the morning, informational booths at Showers Plaza displayed crafts, games, and food from Korean, Thai, Filipino and Indian cultures. \nSome kids took a break from playing in the water fountains to have Kothare and Subramaniam draw Indian designs on their hands using an art form called "henna." The process involves the application of a chocolate-colored paste, which is later removed to leave behind an orange impression.\n"I hope this event grows every year so more people become aware of our culture and cultures around the world," said Chapla Verma, who helped organize the Indian booth.\nJeong Soon Choi, a graduate student from South Korea, said he was disappointed in the turnout for AsianFest.\n"Americans seem to know our food, but not our culture," Choi said. "We need to exchange each other's cultures. Our conflicts stem from misunderstandings."\nBloomington resident Rosemary Hart said she was impressed with the costumes, the food and the energy of the performers.\n"I think it's great they are willing to share their culture," Hart said. "One of my favorite things about living in Bloomington is having many opportunities to share other cultures."\n-- Contact staff writer Steven Chung at stchung@indiana.edu.