International Night at UKy

Saturday night, we had this gala International Night. It was a rocking show! Different countries had set up their stalls and displayed their wares. We had several dance and song performances from all over the globe. I liked the African dances. They were really earthy and make you want to dance. There was an Indonesian performance with 4 or 5 instruments, three dancers and 4 singers or so. The instruments they were using were really novel to me. One of them sounded rather like the Jaldharang but this one was much more intricate and pretty to look at. Another instrument kind of looked like the harp and one looked like a gong. The dancers were wearing masks and their dance seemed rather similar to our own Kathakali sort. My next favorite was the rice field dance from Philippines. Two long bamboo sticks were placed on the floor. Two dancers danced around the sticks in a rhythmic motion as the bamboos were clapped together. Seema tells me that this dance is done in Eastern India also and in a much more intricate fashion. A Chinese man gave a rousing performance on a violin. I think he won the most applause in the evening. Then of course, there was our own desi performance. It would have been more appropriate to term it as Indian Night as the comperes were Indian, the ISA had a really good stall, the best food was Indian and the audience loved Indian music better than any others played. And of course, the most visible,attractive and distinct clothes were Indian!
The organizers did a good job of introducing themselves with placards to the sound of music. I rather suspect they lifted the idea from Main Hoon Na's credits style but oh well, only Indians would know that and it was a cool way of introduction. Finally, the dance floor was opened and all of us just danced to 'Pretty Woman' from Main Hoon Na. Not that I know to dance but still, in spirit if not in form! Would've gotten into the swing of things but the party had to end. Kudos to the organizers for doing a great job!