International Fashion Show pleased the crowd
March 4, 2008
Students from the South Asian Students Association give a closing performance at the International Fashion Show on Friday night in Jesse Auditorium. The show gave attendees a glimpse into the fashion and music of many cultures.
Members of the Vietnamese Student Association perform a traditional dance at the International Fashion Show on Friday night in Jesse Auditorium. The Missouri Students Association and the Graduate Professional Council International Programming Committee sponsored the annual event.
Japanese Students Association members perform at the International Fashion Show on Friday night in Jesse Auditorium. Part of the organization’s performance featured a dance similar to the ‘Soulja Boy’ dance.
Members of the Japanese Students Association perform at the International Fashion Show on Friday night in Jesse Auditorium. Among the acts in the show were swordfights, catwalks and dances.
Members of the Cultural Association of India give a traditional presentation during the International Fashion Show on Friday night in Jesse Auditorium. The show included performers from eight different MU student organizations.
Nervous that another stage crewmember might pop around the corner and issue a loud “Shhhhhh” for the hundredth time, Fan Bu struggled to stifle her eager chatter backstage.
Underneath Jesse Auditorium, friends ran around to take photos, admire costumes and calm their pre-performance jitters 20 minutes before the fashion show.
“We were all so excited and nervous to get on the stage and perform, we just couldn’t stop talking,” said Bu, member of Friendship Association of Chinese Students & Scholars. “We kept trying to encourage each other by whispering, ‘It’s OK. It’s OK.’”
The behavior in the audience mimicked the scene backstage. Echoes of laughter and anticipation filled the auditorium as friends and family of all ages and nationalities impatiently awaited the rise of the curtain.
On Saturday, the Missouri Students Association and Graduate Professional Council International Programming Committee sponsored MU’s annual International Fashion Show.
The show featured eight different multicultural student organizations performing dances, movie skits, swordfights and musical theatrics to highlight their cultures during the two-hour show.
The Friendship Association of Chinese Students & Scholars began the event with a glimpse of the diversity in China. A large projector screen flashed slides of Chinese culture and fashion as students modeled traditional costumes down the stage’s makeshift runway. The organization featured garments from different minorities around the country to emphasize the unity of races in China.
Also included in the act was a piece focusing on the 2008 Olympics, which will take place in Beijing later this year.
The members spent more than a week practicing dance moves, choosing costumes and creating the slide show. Bu said the performance was designed to be “simple but fun.”
The next organization to stomp the stage was the Asian American Association.
As the curtains opened, smoke filled the stage and the AAA’s hip-hop dance crew emerged. Coordinated in matching brown and green outfits, the group put on a long-rehearsed routine to captivate its audience.
Despite first rounds of exams and piles of homework, the members of the Cultural Association of India managed to fit three weeks of rehearsal into their schedules.
“All of the performers are students, so it was really hard to get everyone to practice,” the group’s choreographer Anagha Sawant said. “Everyone loves dance and loves India so much they wanted to be present with grace and enthusiasm. They did all they could to show up and make a great show.”
Their performance aimed to showcase the different regions of India, starting with the eastern region’s “Bihu” folk dance. Sawant said the Bihu is a calm, elegant dance performed by Indian women.
Next, the dancers performed the “Raas garba” folk dance from the western region of India. Dressed in colorful, sparkling garments, they clicked sticks called dandiyas together to show a more energetic and vibrant style of Indian dance.
“India is a big country with a number of cultures and regions,” Sawant said. “We wanted to show there is a unity in diversity. So at the end of the performance we had everyone from the different regions come together.”
The Thai Student Association began its act on a catwalk. The models sported shiny metallic costumes to symbolize Thailand’s culture. Group members demonstrated their brute strength and acrobatic skills as they engaged in a swordfight. The actors dashed back and forth across the stage, jabbing at one another.
Once the swordfight was over, the fighters transitioned to fighting with poles. For the next three minutes Jesse Auditorium was filled with sounds of approval from the audience members entranced by the action movie-like performance.
The fight ended with a crash as the pole of one of the fighters broke and fell to the stage.
The Japanese Students Association took a different approach to its act, themed after the film “Back to the Future.” They performed a humorous skit full of fighting, singing and dancing. The audience favorite was a full cast dance similar to the well-known “Soulja Boy” dance.
The Arabian Gulf Student Organization was new to the International Fashion Show and MU this year. This 16-member group performed three songs displaying Arab culture.
For most of the members performing on stage it was a simple task, but for the group’s president, Mohammed Alabduloa, the task was a little nerve-racking.
“It was hard for me, but I think my friends did a good job,” Alabduloa said, wrapping his arms around his friends. “I was nervous. It was good to get a chance to show people Arab music and what we wear.”
The group’s members were proud to be the first to found the organization and demonstrate the Arab culture to others, Alabduloa said.
Also new to campus was the Vietnamese Student Association, established at the end of last spring.
The group walked the catwalk in traditional Vietnamese garments, most in vivid, bright colors. After the runway, they performed a beautifully choreographed dance using hats as a visual prop, its tone calm and serene.
The South Asian Students Association brought a taste of Bollywood to the stage of Jesse Auditorium. In bright, sequined costumes, the girls performed a set of different dances, including the “Bhangra,” a traditional folk dance.
From the perspective of members of the Cultural Association of India, the International Fashion Show is not only about entertaining the audience, but also about helping to spread awareness of different cultures on campus.
“It is a wonderful event and I’m really proud to be a part of something that celebrates diversity,” Cultural Association of India member Jennifer Tyler said.
“The audience gets to see the variety of costumes and cultures of students around campus, and the performers make a lot of friends and have fun,” Sawant said. “Most of us have talents like art and singing as a hobby and here we can show them.”
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