Eighteen South Asian cultural dance teams from high schools across the Bay Area gathered at Lynbrook’s auditorium on Saturday, March 16 for the American Indo Student Association’s annual Silsilay show. Performances throughout the night incorporated a fusion of American hip-hop, Bollywood and classical Indian songs.
“There’s always room for improvement but I’m really happy about how this event turned out because the audience enjoyed the performances,” AISA Co-President and Jalwa senior performer Anika Sundararajan said.
This sentiment echoed how many teams wove cultural elements into their performances, celebrating South Asian heritage. For instance, Homestead High School’s Bhangra used Sapps, traditional musical instruments native to Punjab, India, adding a creative component to their performances. Other stand-out performances included senior Diya Loonawat’s solo vocal rendition of “Main Kaun Hoon,” by Meghana Mishra.
To lighten the mood between performances, emcees provided comedic relief with reenactments of iconic scenes from the hit show “Friends”. These skits incorporated a South Asian cultural spin, which included jokes about arranged marriages and comedic fights over samosas.
The much-anticipated performance by Lynbrook Jalwa delivered a thrilling conclusion to the show. Cheers erupted as dancers executed elaborate formations and choreography. The energy remained high as Jalwa seniors were presented with personalized posters and heartwarming speeches from their fellow Jalwa dancers.
“I could not have been luckier for my spring break to line up with Silsilay 2024,” former AISA Co-President Akul Murthy said. “This performance was so riveting and I’m extremely proud of the officers, the emcees and all the dancers.”
AISA officers and event coordinators are planning to donate all proceeds from ticket sales to the Indian Literacy Project, a program that has assisted more than 3 million underprivileged Indian children in attaining better educational outcomes.
Photos and reporting by Myles Kim, Gary Pan and Alexandra Wu.
