Through art, music, dance, food and fashion, this weekend's "Culture Shock" show gave students the chance to experience a broad range of cultures.
The large throng of students, faculty and community members who came to Webster Hall for the event Saturday afternoon between 3 and 7 p.m. enjoyed an eclectic program.
Performing groups included numerous a cappella groups -- the Decibelles, Femme Fatale, the Cords and the Rockapellas, as well as a members of the Glee Club, the World Music Percussion Ensemble, and, for classical music fans, the Meyer-Briggs string quartet.
Members of the Asian Christian Fellowship presented a short skit showing the cultural unity that comes through Christianity.
In this skit, Stephen Wright '99 is the only non-Asian student on his Dartmouth Outing Club trip. By reversing the typical scenario, the group conveyed the feelings of isolation that some minorities experience at Dartmouth.
Martin Lee '98 played the role of a trip leader who teaches the others that Jesus loves everyone, regardless of race.
Students also performed dances from different cultures from around the world. In the South Asian Bharat Natyam, a lone dancer told a story through her movements.
Dressed in a peacock blue traditional Indian dress, she danced with a cup of water on her head.
Diwang Pilipino performed a bamboo dance to the tune of upbeat Filipino music.
As a circle of dancers dressed in traditional Filipino costume moved bamboo sticks to the rhythm, two dancers -- a man and a woman -- danced inside the circle, leaping in and out of the center.
After the first dance, the group gave audience members the chance to try for themselves.
With their beautiful costumes, the Chinese Dance Troupe proved to be the most eye-catching of the evening. One group used large straw hats in their dance, while another twirled blue flags, making the stage into a swirl of blue light.
Roots of Rhythm performed African dances, including one originally created by South African miners during the period of apartheid.
Sheba, an urban music dance-group, delivered a high-energy performance that drew the largest audience. During one dance, four male volunteers from the audience sat in chairs on the stage as women from the group danced suggestively around them.
Between performances, audience members had the opportunity to sample an international buffet--tacos, Asian dishes, Indian somosa and pakoras, and even Irish potatoes.
Mike Tierney '99, the founder of the Irish Society, explained that his group was serving both baked and boiled potatoes because while boiled potatoes are more traditionally Irish, most Americans prefer baked potatoes.
Rather than insisting on a purely traditional cuisine at Culture Shock, Tierney said the Irish Society is mainly interested in "getting its name out."
This was the purpose of the event -- to give different cultural organizations on campus the chance to share their cultures with the greater College community.
Often this sharing involved some groups helping others to make performances come together. Adin Kawate '98, a Hawaiian member of Diwang Pilipino, borrowed a skirt of Thai silk to wear during her group's performance.
Norma Andrade '99, who came to help La Alianza Latina, the College's Latino students organization, with their Mexican cookery, called Culture Shock "a worthy event."
She said, "I'm glad people are finally coming to their senses and realizing that there is diversity in this school."
Anil Doshi '98, one of the coordinators of Culture Shock, told The Dartmouth last week that the idea for the program emerged last Winter term as a result of several racial incidents.
This diversity was perhaps most evident during the final performance of the evening, the fashion show.
To the rhythm of an African drum, students modeled traditional dress from China, Nigeria, Tibet, Pakistan and Colombia, to name just a few. Outfits ranged from the formal to casual, with students even modeling Indian pajamas.
More interestingly, the student models did not wear the clothing from their own cultural background. For example, Asian Americans modeled African dress, and African Americans modeled Asian dress.
According to the fashion show's emcee, the models were "stepping out." She told the audience, "These people have the courage to try on new cultures."
