ASIA Club and Pehchaan: Asia to America Show
On Tuesday, the ASIA club put on a performance in the Quick Center. The show was called Pehchaan: Asia to America. Pehchaan means identity, which is what the whole show was centered on. The theme of the show was Asia to America, and incorporated traditional Indian customs with American culture.
Between the dances a few actors told a story of a high school boy and his parents. The boy was born and raised in America, and very accustomed to American society. The parents, however, were extremely traditional Indian. As a result, the boy and his parents had trouble getting along and understanding each other. By the end, the boy came to appreciate his parents and his culture, and his parents came to understand American culture.
The show was filled with many different dances and songs, which were mostly traditional Indian. ASIA club members danced in different categories, including all girls, all boys, couples, contemporary, breakdancing, Bollywood, and so many more. The hip-hop team and step team made appearances as well.
Aside from the dances, the wardrobe choices were amazing. Most outfits consisted of traditional Indian garments, which were full of color and jewels. In one of the couples’ dances, each female dancer wore a long skirt of a different color and the male wore a matching color. Throughout the entire show, there were many wardrobe changes to represent all aspects of Indian culture.
After the show, I met with one of the new freshmen dancers, Anisah Chaundry, to ask her a few questions about the show:
Hometown: Olean, NY
Major: Biology
Her Campus: “What is the ASIA club?”
Anisah Chaundry: “The ASIA club is Asian students in action. It basically embraces the Indian, Pakistani, and Chinese cultures. Anyone can join! We participate in a few smaller dances at Bonas too.”
HC: “What made you join ASIA?”
AC: “Well, The fact that I’m Muslim and Pakistani, so basically the culture. I thought the dancing and the songs were cool, and it would help me embrace my culture.”
HC: “What was your favorite part of dancing in the Pehchaan show?”
AC: “The all girls dance, I thought. I made new friends and even though it was a lot of time and work put in, it was so much fun.”
HC: “A few members of ASIA held a reception for the dancers and the audience after the show. How was the food?
HC: “The food was really good! There was a lot of lo mein, which I really like. There was fried rice, vegetable, samosas, pakoras, etc… a lot traditional Chinese and Indian food.”
If you would like to watch the performance: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HKuw1Z36b3M&feature=youtu.be