With 18 acts of song, dance, comedy and fashion, UB got its own taste of India Saturday night as the Indian Student Association held its annual India Night at the Center for the Arts.
The event kicked off with the singing of the Indian and American national anthems. Next, a performance of "Love Intoxicates," a popular Indian song about finding love, dazzled the audience as the first act. Gautam Saha, a member of ISA and UB's MBA program, soloed both vocally and on piano for the song.
"I don't speak Hindi or any other Indian dialect, but Saha's performance moved me. It was really powerful," said Hong Yen Nguyen, a sophomore undecided major.
After Saha's somber song, the ISA dance group Jhankaar came out and livened the audience's mood with upbeat dancing and dynamic dress.
Sporting blue sparkled tank tops and sleek black pants, the group proved to be popular with its sensual dance moves to the heavy beat of Indian music and Usher Raymond's new hit "Yeah."
"My favorite act was Jhankaar. It was a lively show full of impressive dance moves," said Amishi Desai, a senior business major.
Next up was Tilova Rehman, who co-host Puneet Bawa introduced as "the nightingale of Buffalo." Before she sang a Hindi culture-inspired song, Rehman told the crowd she was feeling sick and apologized if her voice sounded weaker than usual. But after the act - during which Rehman belted out the words and hit high notes perfectly - everyone agreed that Rehman had lived up to her introduction.
"If she sounds that good sick, I can't imagine how incredible she would sound healthy," said Erica Hood, a junior communication major.
Between costume and stage changes, co-emcees Bawa and Alka Kuruvilla showed the audience comedy clips, many of which poked fun at Bawa. One clip was a spoof of the new MTV show "Pimp My Ride," and had a student asking the ISA to fix up his own broken-down ride - a bicycle.
Even though it was India Night, ISA wasn't the only group that performed at the three-hour long event. For one act, the Organization of Arab Students put on a belly dance act that had the men in the audience howling and the women cheering.
Wearing customary belly dance belts that clanked every time they moved to the traditional and contemporary music, the group's girls were joined by four male dancers who changed the act into a form of group line dance called Dabkeh.
Next came Jalwah, an ISA co-ed dance group that performed five songs which mixed all the cultures within India, Hindi, Bhangra and Punjabi dancing, according to Vijeta Rao, a junior business major and member of the 12-person group.
Blending Bhangra moves with hip-hop and Britney Spears, Jalwah left the audience members dancing in their seats, and the group got very close to those audience members as it spread out from the stage and into the crowd with melodic foot tapping, spinning and lifting routines.
India Night also featured a fashion show, during which ISA members modeled traditionally vibrant Indian dress. Strutting and dancing to techno-themed music, the women donned emerald greens, velvet-like violets, and sky blues, while the men wore light tans, browns and other earth-toned linen and silk outfits.
Many in attendance dubbed the event, which was one of ISA's last for the school year, a success.
"It was such a great time for people of all cultures," said Hood.
