"At International Fiesta 2005, spectators get a 'Passport to the World'"

Nearly 2,000 people packed into the Center for the Arts Main Stage on Friday evening to enjoy an extravagant voyage across the continents at International Fiesta 2005, "Passport to the World."

The competition was fierce, but the Indian Student Association came away with first place, followed by the Latin American SA in second place, and the Japanese SA took a close third.

In past years, International Fiesta was held in the Student Union, but due to the overwhelmingly increasing spectator population, the event was moved to the Center for the Arts and was converted from a free talent show to this years' first annual International Fiesta competition.

The competition was judged by seven of UB's faculty and staff, and the decision was anything but easy. The groups were evaluated on several aspects of their performance, with a first place prize of $1,000, a second place prize of $750 and a third prize of $500 awarded to the winner's student association.

The International Fiesta, sponsored by the International Council, was the culmination of months of preparation by the 14 cultural student associations who took part in the competition, and the three exhibition performances.

Onlookers were dazzled with the organizations' ornate costumes, catchy beats, and complex dance moves that rocked the auditorium and elicited roars of applause. Even Victor E. Bull made an appearance, supporting the event.

Sarah Duval, sophomore history and political science major, stopped into the show to support a friend in the Filipino SA, and said the show far exceeded her expectations.

"I thought it was amazing, a lot more than I expected to see," she said. "I was expecting a couple dance groups but it turned out to be absolutely amazing."

According to Duval, two of her favorite presentations were by the Indian SA and Japanese SA performers, an opinion that resonated with the crowd. According to an applause poll taken by the Master of Ceremonies at the event, they also loved the Filipino SA's "Tinikling and Singkil" dances, Latin American SA's "Latino Explosion," and the Turkish SA's comical performance of "A Turkish Romance."

The Indian Student Association's performance entitled "Jalwa," was a fast-paced introduction to Bollywood, or the "Indian counter-part to the American Hollywood." Their hyped integration of choreographed dance, glittering black, red and gold sequined costumes, scene changes and theater effects left the crowd applauding and requesting an encore.

Raj Guron and Rydhima Shah were two of the choreographers who put together the amazingly intricate performance. Shah said that their win was largely due to the group's dedication.

"We practiced all the time; often from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.," Shah said.

Guron chimed in that the group often hated them, because of the grueling practices, but that it "all paid off in the end."

Both Guron and Shah agreed that this year's competition was overwhelming.

"Tonight's competition was very, very hard," Shah said. "Everyone was absolutely amazing."

Mary Walsh, a sophomore political science and psychology major, said the event was well worth attending.

"I had no idea what this was going to be like," she said. "I thought it would be small, but the theater was packed!"

Walsh said she especially enjoyed the Malaysian SA's performance of "Singing Solo," a unique performance of a traditional Malaysian song; but she was blown away by the Japanese SA's performance.

"The Japanese had so much energy, they really were amazing," she said. "I liked the break dancing, I didn't expect it, but break dancing is always good."

The Japanese SA's performance of "Sorah and Bushi" was an energetic crowd favorite. According to the Japanese SA, their performance was a "hyped mix of traditional and contemporary Japanese dance."

Shintaro Yamazaki, the break dancing performer, assisted in the choreography of the exciting mix of music and dance. Fellow teammates Yosuke Kurihara and Izumi Inaba made up the rest of the choreography team.

Their performance was packed with energy and detail, down to their completely homemade costumes. Yamazaki said their attractive, black and gold costumes with red armbands took days of overnight preparation and many trips to Wal-Mart.

Yamazaki said he was pleased with the results.

"We were aiming for first place, but the Indian SA's performance was overwhelming," he said. "I'm really excited though, we did our best."

The group's performances helped to make International Fiesta quite a hit among those who witnessed it, and many believe it is sure to draw an enormous crowd next year as well.

"I was supposed to go to Ottawa this weekend instead of coming here," said Walsh. "But now I'm so glad I came. This was so much better than going to Canada."

The competing teams were comprised of the Turkish SA, Haitian SA, Japanese SA, Bangladeshi SA, Chinese SA, Organization of Arab Students, Hellenic Dancers GSA, Filipino American SA, African SA, Vietnamese SA, Caribbean SA, Malaysian SA, Latin American SA and the Indian SA.