Tour of Asia, hosted by Asian Student Association for the eleventh year, enthralled its audience at the University of Central Florida.
The tour began in Japan and crossed the seas to indulge its Orlando audience with unique renditions of traditional and modern Asian dance and unique sounds. The first to immediately captivate the audience was the Orlando Taiko Dojo.
Orlando Taiko Dojo is a Japanese drumming troupe who demonstrates the Japanese traditional art of drumming, hence the name “Taiko.”
The sound of the drums permeated the atmosphere and everyone was immediately drawn to the steady rhythmic beats as the performers kept in perfect sync. It was impossible for one’s attention to stray away from the sounds and the enthusiastic energy at which these performers demonstrated an age old craft; it was captivating to both sight and sound.
The enchantment continued as the C-Melody dancers representing Vietnam told their stories “through the eyes.” The rendition used the manipulation of fans and flowing silk fabrics to kept the focus on the dancer’s upper body movements.
This beautifully synchronized dance used the richness of the flowing fabrics to portray a classic tale of young love with a “demonic” twist. The majestic colors and graceful movements of the dancers truly did tell the tale to the fullest. The seemingly effortless dance charmed the audience as the young women evoked the passion and conflict existing between two lovers.
The non-stop sensory explosion continued with a duo known as “Philipinese” further as they further immersed everyone in the romantic mood by serenading them with unique acoustic sounds. The pair blended pop culture top hits with Studio Ghibli (animation film producers) music strung in between; stimulated by the sounds, the audience accompanied the music with rhythmic strikes of the palms.
After intermission, a one-man show brought out the child in everyone with the Chinese interpretation of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Disney’s animated motion picture, Mulan. Shuyu Liu’s performance proved that, despite our cultural differences, we all share an emotional connection; it was the perfect segway in appeasing the audience’s thirst for more entertainment as the dance troupe followed suit with legendary dances from the Philippines.
The dancers engaged the audience with their face-paced footwork. This performance included wooden beams strategically laid out on the stage where the dancers demonstrated their technical skills as they rhythmically moved to the essence of the music. Different members of the same dance group then stirred the rhythmic juices as they engulfed the stage with their synchronized gesticulations of “punches” in combination with the powerful artist skill of tumbling, somersaults and once again, amazing footwork that captivated the audience throughout the performance.
The culminated feature was Knights Kangna, representing India whose agility and graceful gestures brought out the rich culture of their country’s dance as the artists incorporated modern movements. Modernizing the typical hand gestures or “mudra,” the dances combined the upbeat music of Bollywood and popular western hits as they told the story of two sisters whose family was tragically separated and eventually brought together. The visual narrative was a perfect ending to both the show and the emotionally moving evening.
