Brightly colored ribbons, tassels and glitter adorned the Student Union Theatre stage on Saturday evening as the Bangladesh Student Association displayed a beautiful portrayal of Bangladeshi culture and tradition that included singing, dancing, and comedy.
The show, titled "Boishakhi," which is the name for the Bangladeshi New Year, consisted of two parts. Nafisa Mahmood, BSA vice president, said she separated the show in order to represent two aspects of the Bangladeshi culture.
"I designed the program so the first half was called 'The Colors' and the second half was moves," said Mahmood, a senior communication major. "The first half was more traditional and the second half involved more dancing and moving."
The color portion of the show consisted of seven acts including everything from the portrayal of a typical Bangladeshi wedding with beautiful traditional clothing to a talented beat boxer, who the audience enthusiastically applauded.
The second portion of the show opened with a slideshow that gave the audience members an informative journey through Bangladesh, which was widely appreciated by students who attended.
"I liked the slideshow the best because I don't think people know enough about Bangladesh. You get a little more information than you would from just watching the show," said Jennie Fernando, a freshman undecided major.
The second half also included a fashion show with models showing village style, traditional and modern Bangladeshi clothing. However, the crowd pleasers proved to be the up-tempo, energetic dance performances, which incorporated both Indian and Bangladeshi tunes.
"The show was really interesting, colorful, and fun. My favorite acts were the dances, especially the dance called Moksha, I loved that dance," said Tyneisha Pettiford, a junior nursing major.
According to Baha Uddin, president of the Bangladesh SA, this year's Bangladesh night was different from their first show, which was held last year.
"Last year, we didn't really advertise the show that much but this year, we worked much harder and it went very well," said Uddin, a junior legal studies major.
Uddin also said that the purpose of the show was to build awareness about the vast amount of culture and tradition that Bangladesh possesses and to keep the Buffalo community aware of what the Bangladesh SA has to offer.
"A lot of people didn't know Bangladesh existed so we wanted to portray our culture to the Buffalo community and that was the purpose of this show," said Uddin.
Mahmood said she was happy with the success of the second annual Bangladesh night.
"Our club has grown a lot since (last) year and with the help of our members, we took a big step this year," said Mahmood. "We had a few technical problems tonight but I think we kept the audience on their feet."
Uddin said the performers and the audience for support was greatly appreciated.
"I am so grateful to our performers and the audience that came out tonight. The performers have worked so hard and they actually make my job easy. All I have to do is set all of this up for them and they take care of the rest," said Uddin. "What gives us pleasure is the feedback from the audience because if they are happy, then we have done our job."
Overall, the Bangladesh SA pulled together a cultural event that informed as well as entertianed, displaying colorful ethnic clothing as well as a showcase of a variety and talent.
"Our main point is to get our tradition across and this show was our example of Bangladesh in a nutshell," said Uddin.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
