Huaren show displays students' pride

More than 700 students attended the annual Huaren Cultural Show last night at the Power Center.

The show, titled "A New Beginning," attempted to forge a new, "unified Chinese American identity on campus by bringing together various expressions of Chinese, Taiwanese, Cantonese and Singaporean culture," said Jon Yang, who helped to plan the show.

The show, which included 11 acts involving more than 250 students, displayed a blend of traditional art forms such as the Taiwanese Aborigine Dance and modern dance styles in acts such as the Groove Mode Squad. It also included the traditional Lion Dance performed at the Lunar New Year, the Fan Dance, a Martial Arts performance and the a capella singing group, KopiToneZ, formed by Singaporean students.

SARA SCHENCK/Daily Students participate in the Traditional Chinese Ribbon Dance last night during the Huaren Cultural Show in the Power Center. The term Huaren represents the attempt to unify communities of Chinese American, Taiwanese American and Cantonese American students on campus.

Other highlights of the show included the Ribbon Dance, originating in imperial China. The female dancers swung brightly colored ribbons to symbolize the long sleeves of a servant who used them to protect his emperor.

The show also highlighted the influences of hip-hop culture on young Asian Americans as the act Team Sxy strutted its Cali Hop and the Groove Mode Squad bounced to the beats of Foxy Brown and the Black-Eyed Peas.

The cultural show is an annual event, put on around the time of the Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell on Feb. 16 this year. Although the show does not specifically comemmerate the New Year, "we use some themes that are traditionally associated with the celebration of the New Year," said Hongshin Pan, who also helped organize the event.

To publicize for the show, members of the Huaren core passed out hong baos, small red envelopes filled with money which are given to children to celebrate the New Year, on the Diag. But the envelopes contained invitations to the Huaren Show rather than money.

The Huaren Cultural Show began five years ago. This year's theme, "A New Beginning," was chosen because the goal of the show was to "take the recognizable aspects of past Huaren Cultural Shows and put a different spin on them," said Leslie Liao, one of the event's planners.

"What we decided on doing was to show how American culture has influenced us as Asian Americans, thus the combination of modern and traditional acts," Yang said.

The term Huaren represents the attempt to unify communities of Chinese American, Taiwanese American and Cantonese American students on campus. "What is generally lacking as far as our three cultures is a cohesion among the groups," Yang said. Yang said one reason there is a lack of a sense of community is because of geographical boundaries of their countries of origin.

Yang added that language also acts to diversify their cultures. "Through the show, we strive to make sure that we highlight each culture with our various acts and performances," said Brain Chiang, an organizer of the event.

"This type of show helps to create identity and pride," said Vivian Chang, a Nursing second-year student who attended the show.

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