The 2007 Tufts Tamasha presented by the Tufts Association for South Asians marked the 20th anniversary of South Asian culture shows at the University. Directors Janak Kumar, Pavan Nyama, Ankeet Shah, Sagar Shah, Gayathry Sooriyakumar and Neha Uppal created a showcase that featured a wonderful variety show that celebrated the rich diversity of South Asian culture. The event was held at the Cohen Auditorium at Tufts University on March 3 and 4 2007.

In what has now become a tradition in South Asian shows at Universities the event opened with a freshman dance. Titled Twenty-tennnnn! O TEN! FALLLLL! the dance choreographed by Akrati Agarwal, Pooja Bhargava and Tina Jumani was a bollywood medley.

Next up was Shika Gupta’s fusion number What’up !...say WHAT! which she claimed was a dance where danced western movements with an Indian flair. Vinay Keshav, Marissa Maren, Maeghan Oberoi and Inderpreet Singh choreographed open Bhangara that combined traditional Bhangara with a modern twist,

Neha Garge and Gayathry Sooriyakumar, students of Sridevi Thirumalai presented  Natesha Kavituam as a Nrityanjali. Up next was Faith Cummings and Ashti Mistry choreography Who’s gonna make You dance?  Janak Kumar, Nethra Madurai and Veda Shastri presented Taraana composed by the late Pandit Vinaychandra Maudgalya in Raag Bhageshwari.

The award winning Tufts Garba team presented a fantastic number called Raas n’ Beenz choreographed by Ameer Shah and Meghna Shah. Fashion show coordinated by Namita Vaidya was followed by a energetic Bhangara presented by the Tufts Bhangara Team. Pooja Gupta, Maeghan Oberoi, Arjun Prasad, Ameer and Viswanathan Subramanium had put together a breathtaking performance.

The musical number that followed was the highlight of the show where Maciej Czos, Janak Kumar and Hari Nandu dazzled the audience with their musical prowess on guitar and Tabla. The piece was very well put together and blended Jazz with Hindustani Classical music.

Choreographers Samriddi Bhalla, Saumini Shah and Namita Vaidya presented a tribute to King Khan in their Shahrukh Khan Tamasha. A traditional Nepali dance choreographed by Dhriti Bhatta and Pem Lama followed. A garba-bhangra fusion choreographed by Ameer Shah and a Bollywood Medley Payalia Jhankar choreographed by Neha Garge led up to the Grand Finale – Redemption. This was the senior dance choreographed by Smita Deshmukh, Nithya Nathan, Ameer Shah, Meghna Shah and Viswanathan Subramanian.

Other items included comic interludes and a wonderful poetry reading by Aditya Nochur, who was a finalist for the prestigious Phillip Wendell award at Tufts University.  A well put together event Tamasha was a wonderful tribute to 20 years of South Asian culture at Tufts University.

|