Traditional Indian dance kicks off Taste of Asia

A crowd of people smiled and giggled as several 7- to 9-year-old girls, dressed in traditional clothing, danced Friday in the IU Auditorium. They were the Asian Culture Center Rajasthani Dancers, and they performed a traditional Indian dance as part of this year’s Taste of Asia.\nThe Rajasthani Dancers were one of the event’s seven traditional performances by different student organizations and a performance by former “American Idol” contestant Paul Kim. \nThe 15th annual tradition helped kick off IU’s celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. \nThe event started out with a traditional Indian dance, Bhangra, by the IU Bhangra Team. The dance included five women dancing in traditional bright clothing. \nIn between performances, hosts Danny Nguyen and Amy Truong kept the crowd laughing with jokes.\n“Behind each joke is appreciation (for) the large diversity that is celebrating different Asian ethnicities,” \nNguyen said. \nThe hosts also provided the crowd with facts about IU and the Asian population. For example, Nguyen said Korean is the second-most widely spoken language at IU. \nOther performances included a performance from the band Ebb, which specializes in Chinese rock. \nGraduate student Erin Wilson performed a folk traditional dance called “dadas,” which represents a healing and spiritual process. Wilson danced and made rhythms with bronze bracelets she wore. \nKim performed four different songs. One of the songs, “I will Love You More,” may be the first single from his upcoming debut album. \nA colorful Lion Dance by IU Chinese Student Scholar Association brightened up the stage. The traditional Chinese dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year. It involved two people dressing up as \na dragon.\nThe Filipino Student Association performed “Singkil.” The dance recreates a folk tale of a prince saving a princess in a forest. Bamboo sticks were used to recreate the \nfalling trees. \nThe last student performance was by IU Salmunori. The powerful performance of “Salmunori” consisted of six students playing small drums.\nSenior Youle Wang enjoyed this performance the best. \n“I think I liked the Korean performance (“Salmunori”) because I saw it as a unity effort,” Wang said. \nAfter the show, students were allowed to receive six free samples of meals and water. The participating restaurants included Chow Bar, Fortune Cookies, Esan Thai Restaurant, Sobon, Asuka Japanese Sushi and Steak House and the \nSushi Bar. \nAll of the food was traditional Asian food such as sushi, Jap Chae, fried rice and tofu pad thai. \nGraduate student Stephanie Davis said she came to Taste of Asia in support of diversity.\n“(I came) because I think it teaches you about culture,” Davis said. “As a black student, I know how it is and we like to have a good turn out (at cultural events).”\nIU visitor Brian Bender agreed with Davis on supporting diversity. \n“In basketball land of Indiana, (it is) good to see diversity,” Davis said.