KSA/CSA Spark Year Of The Tiger

As many students prepared to celebrate the Chinese New Year this weekend, some began their festivities in Robsham Friday evening. The 10th annual Chinese Students' Association (CSA) / Korean Students' Association (KSA) culture show was the highlight of many months of preparation for both clubs. The show was fast-paced, entertaining, and informative, and it should serve as the basis for how to correctly present a cultures in this format. The dances, music, and other performances each served as a mini introduction to their respective culture and the acts were hugely successful in connecting with the packed audience. The diversity and buoyant energy of the acts kept the crowd engaged for over two hours.


The show centered on the theme of "Museum X, where culture comes to life." The skits connecting the performances featured students touring through a museum of various facets of Chinese and Korean culture, from music and dance to yo-yos and martial arts. The show was divided evenly between each culture, showcasing similar genres with pairings such as kung fu and taekwondo. This strategy allowed audience members who were more unfamiliar with both cultures to further understand and appreciate how the cultures overlap and also how they are distinct. The skits were brief and to the point, as they maintained the expected cultural jokes but mostly set up for the next performance by providing background. This was a decision that was largely appreciated by the crowd, which boisterously called out for more dancing during lulls.

The purpose of the culture shows is to give a broad overview of each culture, with each segment short in length but broad in scope. The most successful cultural acts were the more upbeat and engaging genres, such as the Talchum, and music acts. Talchum is a traditional Korean dance in which the performers wear elaborately painted wooden face masks and wear traditional long sleeves. The dance began traditionally but then took a more modern turn, so that it was similar in style to many present-day dance crews, almost reminiscent of the JabbaWockeez with masks. Another act that drew a huge response from the audience was the Chinese yo-yo demonstration. Over 20 performers showed their skills with the Chinese yo-yo, which involves spinning a dumbbell-shaped toy on a rope between two strings. This basic game turned into an acrobatic achievement when the yo-yos were tossed about into the air, between performers, and even from the crowd. The inability to completely choreograph this act made it even more compelling.

The musical acts, although presented very differently, displayed the modern music from each culture. The CSA music act featured a small group of singers and instrumentalists performing modern pop ballads, switching off between instruments and microphones, creating a medley of songs. This was a slower portion of the performances, but some truly talented singers carried the group. The KSA music act was a modern dance to a medley of "K-Pop" hits. The crowd cheered so loudly for this segment that the K-Pop music was rather obscure, but the beats wouldn't seem out of place next to Lady Gaga or Ke$ha at a BC party. Music of all kinds was a focus for the night, and from traditional Korean salmulnori drum cadences to Chinese pop hits, the full spectrum of musical history was covered.

The first half focused on more traditional performances, such as the fan dance practiced in both China and Korea. The back-to-back placement of the two dances showcased differences that might have otherwise been overlooked by less perceptive audience members. The Korean dancers focused more on creating images with the fans, like the impression of waves or a butterfly, using the group as a dancer. The Chinese dancers used more ornate fans to emphasize the synchronized individual dancers, who spun, waved, and fluttered the fans in unison. Another more traditional act was the martial arts, which featured fewer performers and were shorter than most of the dances. The students performing obviously had previous training in either kung fu or taekwondo, and again, here the audience could see how these similar forms are actually distinct.
The final act was a huge performance of modern dance to pop hits from both cultures. The amount of choreography that went into this lengthy act was impressive, and coupled with the amount of performers, the feat of synchronizing approximately 50 dancers is astounding. The modern dance was along the same vein of the rest of the show – fast-paced, interactive, and entertaining. The show left the audience humming the latest K-Pop hits and determined to learn Chinese yo-yo, but the spread of culture to those who were previously unacquainted is the greatest accomplishment these shows can hope to achieve.