Newspapers / East Wind (Asian Students … / Oct. 1, 1997, edition 1 / Page 5
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5 fit live to By sejal Vora Rang-E-Sangam is an annual celebration at UNC focused on South Asian tradition, culture and customs. It is a night filled with music, dance, and religion-oriented skits created to expose students and the surrounding commu nity to South Asia and its heritage. This year's night began with India's tradi tional style of dancing, Bharat Natyam, usual ly performed for religious ceremonies by young women. The dancer delineates a story being told by the music through her actions, facial expressions and hand gestures. The movements in this dance are fixed, meaning the dancers learn all of the Steps, which each have their own specific meanings and conno tations. A hand instrument, a smaller version of the symbols-fitting in the pahn of one's hand, beats in the background of the song - keeping the dancer on the right beat. Bharat Natyam is extremely demanding on its dancers, but the dancers on this evening made it look effortless and graceful. Upbeat remixed songs, in which English music and lyrics fuse into original Hindi (the official language of India) songs, is growing in popularity with today's younger generation, especially with non-South Asians. Most of these songs come from Hindi movies, which is also one of the most popular and successful industries in India. Some dance movements of the evening originate from such Hindi films. Performers used creative westernized move ments combined with person choreography to entertain audiences. Bhangra is another style of dancing that comes from the Punjabi faith. The basic step in this dance is a type of bouncing on one foot while hands wave rhythmically in the air. Clothing is another essential aspect of South Asian tradition that dazzled the crowd. These ranged from heavily beaded cloth entwining around women's bodies to pajama look-a-likes on the men. The sari, the most well-known South Asian apparel, is worn by women, both on a daily basis as well as for more formal occasions such as weddings and religious functions. Fancier saris - made of rayon and silk - are heavily embroidered with pearls, beads and special gossamer threads. These dresses, though beau tiful, tend to get fairly heavy in both weight and price. Also seen at this year's Rang-E-Sangum were outfits known as Ghara, Salwar Kamiz, Punjabi, Chanya Chori and Choli suits. The Choli suit represents the latest style from India. The short-sleeve blouse skims the waist line and the long skirt extends to the ankles or longer. Complimenting the outfit is a long scarf worn as a shawl. The suit, saved for spe cial occasions, displays heavy, intricate embroidery designs. The men wear what non-Indians usually identify as pajamas. It consists of a long-sleeve shirt and pant set, baggy enough to be com fortable and worn every day along with spe cial events. This outfit is generally made from cotton and is very loose fitting - ideal for the hot temperatures and humidity of India. As Rang-E-Sangum showed UNC, music and dance are very influential aspects of South Asian culture and traditions. We use these everyday mediums to pray to our gods and ask for their blessings. For those who attended Range-E-Sangum and thought this night was extraordinary make sure to come to SANGUM NITE! .... .sv''': By Betsy i/ee Some believe that you cannot understand others until you walk in their shoes. Though they did not switch shoes, students and professors from both UNC's campus and various Japanese universities did make efforts to understand each other during a con ference on November 3. The program, which was sponsored by UNC's Black Student Movement, was called "Japan and African Americans: A Comparative Perspective". The event brought native Japanese professors to campus to discuss the growing interest on African American studies booming in Japan. Throughout the day, professors of Afro-American studies - African American, Caucasian American and Japanese alike - lectured on topics ranging from race and ethnicity in Japan to W.B. Debois' writings about Asia. BSM's faculty advisor, Gerald Home, said the Sonja Hanes Black Cultural Center and the Institute of African American Research were excit ed to sponsor the event. Horne said he believed the program would improve race relations and promote cultural under standing between Japanese and African Americans. "I think it will increase knowledge and ties between Japanese and African Americans," Horne said. "I think it will lead to scholar ly collabora tions." For several Japanese pro fessors, the program served not only as one in which they could learn more about African Americans, but also one in which they could learn about them selves. American Studies and Sociology professor at Tokyo Danke University, Akio Iwasaki said he would be able to study racism in Japan through learning about eh history of African Americans. "(In finding) out about how African Americans have been treated in America, we can identify the invisible racism in our country," Iwasaki said. Professor at the Orbirin University in Japan, Masako Nakamura, also expressed a similar belief, saying that understanding race issues from a dif ferent view point was necessary. "It's important to see things from other people's perspective," she said. "We don't have racial conflict (in Japan), but we do have a caste-like dis crimination." The interaction between African American and Japanese professors and students fostered a connection that few people realized existed. The conference allowed the attend ing Japanese professors to further their focus on their African American stud ies and research, said Professor Ken Chujo from Orbirin University. "This kind of program is a precedent break ing conference," Chujo said. "I met a lot of people I want to keep contact with for my research - I want them to know that there are a lot of Japanese scholars concentrating on African American Studies."
East Wind (Asian Students Association, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
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