Wharton Journal

Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: News

If you wanted to see DIVERSITY - the original kind - you should have been present at the Irvine Auditorium from 7pm to 9pm on April 6th. It was a valiant effort by the Wharton community to breach the constricting boundaries of cliché and banality. For once, I went home feeling that I had witnessed a spectacle that unified the people of world; not behind glass doors in learning teams, but in front of 500 people; not through financial modeling software, but through the simplicity of music; not through leadership workshops, but through the rhythm of dance. For once, it was natural, real, normal. Thus began WICS 2008, for the eighth time since it was first conceived as an idea in 2001.

The enlivening emcees Marianne Moukhtara and Ashish Goyal introduced the theme of the show, 'Road to Riches,' and led the audience through the sights and sounds of China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, India, Israel, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

It began with the compelling and wild rhythm of drum beats in the African Sounou Dance. In sharp, but pleasant contrast, the dainty and elegant peacock dance of the Chinese Dai did not cease to mesmerize. An expressive and elaborate Indian Classical Dance was followed by the Israelis performing a collaborative and lively dance conveying their wish for world peace. The colorful dance from Latin America cheerfully ruffled skirts and the spirits of the crowd before the Korean Samulnori featured the sounds and rhythms of four traditional Korean percussion instruments. While the snappy Taiwanese dance gave as a peek into the old and the new, the exhilaration and energy of Bhangra infected the crowd with a different kind of vigor. The Japanese Para Para gave us a taste of its techno-pop culture. A sensual Salsa dance carried the crowd into a world of intense red and black and the wafting, tinkling peace of the Korean Geommu hushed them into softer tones. The Karate demonstration was phenomenal - its sheer precision and power was displayed in the seemingly effortless smashing of baseball bats and concrete blocks to smithereens! Following this, the crowd snapped out of its Wii-like reverie into the incredible coordination and visual impact of the Indonesian Saman dance. It was "The dance of a thousand hands," said Ashish the Oracle and indeed it was. A spellbound audience watched 76 hands moved as one. In a dimly lit, soulful space the sway and cadence of the Afro-Caribbean Dance brought us visions of a distant and breathtaking Africa. Glitz and glamour pervaded the air as the zing of Wharton Andaaz gave us a glimpse of Bollywood. The show concluded with the Brazilian Bateria, drumming out thrills and upbeat flavors of the Carnaval.

Continued...

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