The Watters Theatre stage was filled with bright lights, hip-hop routines, sparkling outfits, a cappella performances and classical dances on Saturday night as part of the Indian International Student Union’s (IISU) annual Tamasha dance show.
Tamasha, which means a grand show or celebration involving dance in Hindi, is typically held in December during midterm week but was moved to this past weekend this year in hopes of drawing a larger audience. The group started preparing for the event in the summer, and the members choreographed different dance styles to represent Indian culture. The event also featured performances by different cultural groups including Black Dance Repertoire, Binghamton Masti and Bollywood Beats. It cost $8 to attend, and the proceeds will go toward funding the group’s future cultural events.
According to IISU President Tiffany Kurian, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience, the show brings IISU together while also teaching others to appreciate Indian culture.
“When you come into college, you can lose yourself a little bit because you’re surrounded by so many things, but a lot of us are deeply rooted by our culture — it’s a part of us, it’s how we’ve grown up, it’s an aspect of us that’s always there but we don’t necessarily know how to embrace it,” Kurian said. “I think it’s important that we don’t lose that cultural side of us, that we don’t lose that identity, so I feel this is a good way to bring everything together.”
Cornell Bhangra, Cornell University’s co-ed Bhangra dance team, also performed. Kurian said they like featuring performances by other schools when possible, and in the past they have featured groups from SUNY Albany.
The show consisted of short introductory videos of each of the featured groups before they performed. This included rap battles from Supa Hot Masala, classical dances to remixes of songs like “Cheerleader” by OMI and “7/11” by Beyoncé and a fusion of English and Indian songs from Bollywood Beats. The Bollywood Film club incorporated dance with a South Asian movie twist and performed a story of how two lovers met in the BU Marketplace, titled “How I Met Your Mother.” Black Dance Repertoire featured songs from Rihanna and Fetty Wap, and the show ended with a fashion show by members of IISU of the modern day Indian-American fashion.
Eric Russell, the president of Black Dance Repertoire and a senior majoring in human development, said cultural events expose students to a variety of cultures while also providing entertainment.
“We want to get different cultures to come out and audition, to come out and view it,” Russell said. “You can relate to anything, it doesn’t matter what ethnic background you relate to.”
Students like Savanna Vidal, an undeclared freshman, came to learn more about Indian culture and watch the student performances.
“I’m very impressed, it’s cool to see all the effort that people have put in, and I had no idea that it was going to be this many acts,” Vidal said. “I now have an appreciation for Indian dance beyond what I’ve seen in movies because that’s the only exposure I’ve had to it thus far.”