Cultural Extravaganza Thrills Sold-Out Crowd

A remarkable melange of performances drawn from the long history and varied cultures of South Asia, Ghungroo, the South Asian Students Associations's annual cultural show, was overflowing with joy and energy for its entire three-hour duration. The program united beautiful music, screwball comedy and high-power dance numbers-tied together by an informative voice-over--in a smooth rhythm calculated to keep the audience intrigued and entertained.

Aditi Bagchi '99 performed the opening act, a flirtatious, intricate classical Indian dance called the bharata natyam. An astonishing meld of classical poses, swift, powerful foot and arm movements and use of the eyes and face to express emotion, Bagchi's dance also punctuated its backing music with the rhythmic jingle of the bells on her ankles. This is the dancing style called ghungroo, from which the show itself takes it name. Among the singers, Devi SenGupta '98 gave a beautiful and captivating performance; accompanying herself instrumentally, she sang a ghazal and a nazrul geeti, traditional songs (in Urdu and Bengali respectively) about unrequited love, backed by Vivek Jain '96 on guitar and Peter Johnson playing a set of lively tabla drums. Bina Gogineni '98, an eloquent and multi-faceted performer, not only sang a meera bhajan--a Hindu devotional song--but later danced a beautiful individual solo in the ancient kathak style. And Mattar Bhattacharya '98, co-president of SAA, gave a splendid recital in traditional Hindustani style on the sarod, an intimidating 24-string instrument of 19th-century Afghanistani origin.

Ghungroo's comedy skits were slightly weaker, and those outside the sphere of South Asian cultural life may have felt left out of the jokes about parental attitudes and arranged-marriage fiascoes, but the pieces were well-acted and offered an interesting look into modern South Asian American life. Another notable act which sought to bridge the gap between the traditional and the contemporary worlds was the poetry reading by Sonali Bose '98, excerpted from the upcoming compilation Conversations with the New Race on the Block and acted out silently by cast members. Several of Bose's pieces, such as "Tobacco" and "Gunda" ("Low-life"), are reminiscent of Sandra Cisneros' short prose poems in The House on Mango Street in their attempt to give an impressionistic shape to events as perceived through the eyes of a member of a culture still unfamiliar to most Americans.

Ghungroo also gave time to the popular forms of music and dance from India's multi-billion-dollar film industry. The second act opened with a re-creation of an antakshari, a game played by young people at parties and weddings--something along the lines of "Name That Tune"--which focuses on Indian film music and gave everyone in the ensemble a chance to show off their singing, dancing and clowning skills. Vipin Goyal '98 and Shilpa Jain '98 wee particularly spectacular in their exuberant and riotous re-creation of a film dance, acting out a marital infidelity, argument and reconciliation.

But the heart and soul of the show of Ghungroo was the group dances. From the dandia raas, an exuberant stick dance celebrating the "divine sport" of Krishna and his milkmaids to the classical bhangra--a vibrant, joyous Punjabi dance, and an obvious favorite with the audience--the group performances invariably brought down the house. And, of course, the show closed with the SAA dancers' signature piece, their modern version of the bhangra. One of the characteristics that often startles firsttime viewers of classical Indian dance is the resemblance of the stylized motions, frozen poses and jerky dance steps to today's hip-hop. Glowing in costumes of basic black highlighted by bright flourescent and primary colors, the cast seamlessly integrated into the forms of classical bhangra elements of hip-hop, funk dance, acrobatic elements and even a flash or two of tango.

The producers of Ghungroo obviously took great care in selecting tidbits from the rich diversity of South Asian cultures to present to their viewers, and the performers gave their all in presenting the beauty and vitality of their art to the greatest possible advantage. The show was an brilliant and exuberant a foray into the varied wealth of an ancient culture's living treasures as anyone could hope to cram into three hours. I only wish that Ghungroo were running another week, so that I could recommend that you all go and see it. Unfortunately, it was a limited engagement; all that's left behind is a fabulous memory for those who went to see it, and a suggestion for the rest of your that you buy your tickets early next year.