THE JUSTICE
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2009
21
ASHER KRELL/the Justice
OSTENTATIOUS OPENER: A dance choreographed by first-year students followed the welcome speech at this year’s Mela. The “Freshman Dance” fused classical South Asian dance with an upbeat contemporary style.
Cultures meet at Mela Students gather to celebrate “milan” By JOYCE WANG JUSTICE STAFF WRITER
ROBYN SPECTOR/the Justice
The South Asian Students’ Association flagship event for the year, Mela, took place last Saturday night to an enthusiastic audience. Its theme was “Milan: Together We Are...” Milan, which in Hindi means “meeting,” was a celebration of South Asian culture melding with modern society. A combination of slide shows, videos, dances, spoken word and a fashion show, as well as dinner afterward, made for an exciting evening. Act I opened with a slide show explaining the theme of Milan, which incorporated the history and art of the eight South Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The first dance, Bharatanatyam, was a classical South Indian dance form that featured a fusion moment with the song “Liquid Dance” from Slumdog Millionaire. Among the other modern moments of the first act was the Fusion Beats dance, which featured hip hop, Bollywood and bhangra influences, a particular standout of the evening due to its energetic, kinetic beats. Additionally, the Ishara… dance also featured Bollywood, reggae and hip hop influences. Both of them incorporated the theme of modern culture fusing with more traditional forms. Another moment of
intersection occurred with the Kathak/Flamenco dance, where two flamenco dancers performed alongside a third Kathak dancer, which is a kind of classical Indian dance. Act I also featured an upbeat, humorous contribution from SASA’s first-years, titled Freshman Dance. A fashion show including a wide variety of South Asian fashions, from Indian to Afghani, also showcased the extreme enthusiasm of the audience. Not a single model emerged without a chorus of support, often from people yelling the models’ names. Indeed, the entire audience seemed constructed out of either relatives or friends of the performers, resulting in a rather lively experience. However, the first act ended on a more serious note, with a charity slide show in support for the Asian University for Women, an organization that strives to provide higher education to more South Asian women. The university is located in Chattagong, Bangladesh and enrolls about 3,000 students. Act II opened with the new student band, Aatma, a unique combination of jazz vocals and instrumentation followed by a more traditional South Asian styling. The saxophonist and drummer were particular standouts of the band. Next, after a blooper reel, Associate Dean of Student Life Jamele Adams made a surprise appearance featuring his trademark spoken word, which was a paean to the power of
Mela. Following his performance was the ever-popular Brandeis Bhangra, featuring an upbeat and energetic dance from India’s Punjab region. This was followed by a somewhat more subdued version of two kind of Afghan dance, Qataghani and Logari. Act II also had some more humorous moments with Sophomore Lovin’ and Studs Express. Sophomore Lovin’ was a playful battle between a traditional and a modern group of dancers, each sparring for superiority in a short showdown sequence. Studs Express, a film by BTV, told in the first two acts the tale of a young man from India on a quest to find the girl of his dreams, charmingly acted in a mock-Bollywood fashion. The third act featured live dancers on stage. Act II ended with a Junior/Senior dance, in which the many performers filled the stage in a last goodbye to the audience. It closed out the evening with great success. Mela is the kind of event for which you have to arrive an hour early to get good seats; I arrived half an hour before it started and barely snatched a decent vantage point. It may not be the most professional act you see this year, but its unmatched level of enthusiasm, variety and energy provides an entertaining evening. Editor’s Note: Nashrah Rahman ’12, the Justice News editor, participated in Mela.
SPIN CYCLE: Ashni Davé ’12 acted as dancer and choreographer in Mela.
NATHANIEL FREEDMAN/the Justice
VIOLIN VERVE: Siddhi Krishna ’12 performs a thillana, a song of the carnatic genre, the classical music of South India.
ASHER KRELL/the Justice
BEAT GENERATION: The dance “ishara...”, choreographed by Asa Bhuiyan ’10, sought to capture the common rhythm of music from many cultures.