On March 7, the Tufts Association of South Asians put on its annual Culture Show, known among students as the C-Show. With this year’s theme, “Highly DESIred,” love was in the air as students from all class years danced, acted and laughed the night away. The C-Show highlights South Asian art and culture while creating an inclusive space where people of all backgrounds feel celebrated.
“It’s a great way for South Asians to express their culture in a creative way and also get the broader Tufts community excited about South Asian events and South Asian art,” TASA executive board member Samir Jones said.
The night began with an electric performance from Bollywood fusion dance team Tamasha. The C-Show is the group’s biggest performance of the year, showcasing styles ranging from Kathak to jazz, accompanied by an upbeat mix of English and South Asian music.
Sophomore Riya Chandra, vice president of TASA and a dancer on Tamasha, emphasized the group’s versatility.
“Tamasha is about different styles,” she said. “Different people’s skills are highlighted in different dances, which I think is really cool and … makes a really strong performance.”
Other South Asian dance teams include Tufts JumboRaas, Tufts Pulse, Tufts Bhangra and Tufts Rangeela. While each of their performances r are highly anticipated every year, Pulse and Bhangra were traveling the weekend of the C-show.
JumboRaas, Tufts’ premier competitive Garba-Raasdance team, focuses on dance styles originating from western India in Gujarat. The team blended traditional and modern styles, incorporating dandiya sticks to bring vibrant energy to the performance.
On the less competitive end is Tufts Rangeela, a Bollywood-focused fusion dance collective that combines Indian styles with Afrobeats and Latin music. Tufts Rangeela offers a flexible time commitment, allowing students at different levels of experience to participate in an inclusive community.
Toward the end of the night, captains from all the South Asian dance groups came together for a collaborative performance to showcase their leadership and love for dance.
“You really don’t get to see that collaboration anywhere else on campus,” TASA Senior Advisor Vihaan Desai said.
In lieu of Bhangra and Pulse, the Korean Dance Association, or KoDA, stepped in and delivered a standout performance. The blending of South Asian culture with other Tufts dance groups made the C-Show feel like a warm embrace of multiple cultures.
The highly anticipated performance by the BlackOut Step Team was another crowd favorite. Having performed at the C-Show for several years, the group brought its own distinct style to the evening.
“They bring a different sort of vibe without a soundtrack,” Desai said. “What they do beautifully well is integrate into our team, … because they make [their performance] specific [to the South Asian community], and it’s really, really fun.”
The event is not only a showcase of the premier dance groups on campus, but also provides a space for first-years, sophomores, juniors and seniors to come together within their respective class and put together fun and lighthearted dance.
While these dances are relatively low-commitment, they bring strong energy and vibes. First-year dancer Jahnavi Bangara, a member of Tamasha, helped choreograph the freshman dance and mix the music. This year’s routine included a short narrative centered on a South Asian wedding that was interrupted by dancing ‘wedding-crashers.’
Throughout the evening, a satirical short film was shown between performances, stringing together the theme of the show. Playing on the theme of love, this year’s skit was centered on a dating show with an entertaining cast of eccentric characters.
The film was written by Jones and Anshika Shekhar, with Jones also directing and editing.
“My main contribution was creating the culture show video, which is just like a combination of a bunch of skits that are supposed to, one, be funny, but also … [to be] inclusive [of] South Asians in the community, and letting them be a part of something that we can express to everyone else,” Jones said.
Both Bangara and Chandra drew attention to the merit of the show being completely student-led.
“It’s kind of inspiring, seeing people so close to us in age being able to take on so much responsibility,” Bangara said.
“I think it’s hard to really understand and appreciate that when you’re in the audience,” Chandra said. “[Before I was] vice president, … I definitely didn’t appreciate how much work [had] to be done to put on C-Show. … It’s very student-led, which was really exciting to see.”
Chandra further emphasized the importance of community, something that the C-show seeks to cultivate.
“Having [a] South Asian community [at] that scale of 400 people [in attendance] is really nice, because that doesn’t happen that often,” Chandra said. “So, it’s nice to feel like this much of the South Asian community is in one space at a certain time. That’s the point of having [the] C-Show.”
The TASA C-Show is the culmination of students' effort and cultural pride. It is an event that not only South Asians can connect with, but also with broader audiences through universal themes like love and family.
“Never did I think I would … do Bollywood dances and organize this kind of stuff,” Desai said. “But just like that, here we are. And yeah, it’s been amazingly special.”
