Festival celebrates traditional, modern Asian art

The Asian American Association pulled together Saturday a night of fashion, dance, comedy and talent. The program was devoted to showing the cultural contributions Asian Americans have made to the United States. \n"The U.S. is not a melting pot but one big stirfry," said the emcee, student Dan Vergara.\nThe show featured several hip-hop sketches choreographed to Asian pop music, as well the traditional Filipino dance called "tinkling," meaning "bamboo dance." The national dance is based on the motions of traditional farming in the rice paddies.\n"This is the first cultural event I've attended here at IU," said freshman Aliza Nusbaum. "It reminded me of high school, but I enjoyed it."\nTraditional fashions and cultural activities were also showcased. The Chinese Yo-Yo Club gave an entertaining performance, showing off its agility and multi-tasking abilities. Beatboys, the IU break dance club, was also represented in the show.\nThe spotlight sketch was the Multicultural Walk, which featured Asian-infused American styles, as well as traditional fashions from China, Japan, India, Burma, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Both adult and children's wardrobes were represented in the walk while Ishan Cheng performed a piano and vocal piece in Chinese.\n"It was really exciting to have the opportunity to share our culture with other people," said Tony Truong, the coordinator of the event. \nAlthough the show's main purpose was to represent Asian culture in America, the association made sure to emphasize its goal of raising money and collecting clothing for the children who are suffering from the effects of the recent earthquake in South Asia.\nAll proceeds will go to Relief International (www.ri.org).