Over 100 IU students and Bloomington residents attended “Night at the Museum: Dance Party Edition” on Thursday to celebrate South Asian traditions and culture at the IU Museum of Archeology and Anthropology. The event was the second of a series of free events at the museum.
While the first event took place in February and was Valentine’s Day themed, “Dance Party Edition” was centered around celebrating South Asian culture. Two Bollywood dance instructors, Ananya Mahapatra and Alfa Dhakal, led participants through a group Bollywood dance to traditional South Asian music. Family-owned Indian restaurant Tab’s Kitchen also provided chai, vegetable pakora and samosas for the event.
IUMAA education coordinator Shelbie Porteroff said she wanted to put together an international dance-related event. She decided to highlight the different styles that make up Bollywood as a film and entertainment industry, as well as the dances.
For Porteroff, it's important for people who know a culture best to teach others about it.
“I think one of our biggest things here is that we want the people who are teaching about the communities and cultures they are from to be those experts,” Porteroff said. “Not to be, you know, my voice trying to articulate what it’s like to be South Asian, because I’m not.”
Porteroff wore an emerald green sari with glittering green necklaces and bangles. She said she wore the sari to a wedding previously but was encouraged to show it off at the “Dance Party” event.
“Several of my friends from South Asia wanted me to wear it,” she said. “Because there’s not always a lot of opportunities where you can wear cultural garb, and this was an event that makes sense.”
The museum was bustling with activity as the dance instructors began their first lesson, leading a room of around 50 participants through each dance move. The instructors would demonstrate each step before setting the dance to music, shouting encouragement at the crowd as they danced together.
Outside of the dance class, people played card games together, sipping on the hot chai and sampling samosas from Tab’s Kitchen.
“The chai was phenomenal,” IU junior Lilly Hile said.
Hile, a member of the IUMAA Student Advisory Council, said that it’s important to celebrate diversity and inclusion by attending cultural events such as the “Dance Party.”
“I wouldn’t have been exposed to this if I hadn’t gone to events like this,” she said. “I’m thankful that the museum puts them on.”
Bollywood music could be heard throughout the museum as the pair of instructors continued to put the dance moves together. After a short break, a second dance workshop commenced.
Bloomington resident Swapneel Kulkarni participated in multiple dances at the event. Kulkarni said he started Bollywood dancing when he was a child for community celebrations.
Kulkarni said that people are always able to learn from another culture, and that no one culture is encompassing of all wisdom.
“It will almost always make you better in one way or another, that obviously you get to meet a lot of people and expand your knowledge,” he said. “I think that no matter how old you are, you should still be learning, whether you’re a student, a professional or a retiree.”
Kulkarni added that living in Bloomington makes international events easy to access.
“It is just such a privilege to be in an internationally inclusive place,” he said. “I think people should take advantage of that.”
The next event in this series is “Spring at the Museum” and will take place 5:30-7:30 p.m. on April 10 at the IUMAA. More information is available on the IUMAA Events Calendar.
