The International Student Association held the inaugural International Talent Show in Fisk Hall on Monday night in front of a sparse yet engaged crowd.
Tickets were $5 each with all proceeds benefiting this year’s ISA and Habitat for Humanity Spring Break service trip to Peru.
Mirch Masala, an all-female dance group specializing in Bollywood, bhangra and more, began the night with an energetic performance, followed by a juggling act by Cirque du NU that had the crowd cheering at the complicated milk patterns and handle hits. Afterparty then took the stage with their specialty – K-pop covers.
"Korean culture is expressed specifically through pop culture, like dancing – it serves as a holistic representation of Korean culture," explained Afterparty member and Weinberg junior Brian Zhou. "An event like this is really important because it shows the different facets of culture at Northwestern, and the breadth of cultural performances tonight was way more diverse than any event I’ve been to on campus."
A cappella group Brown Sugar delivered a delightful, low-key performance of a mash-up of traditional Southeast Asian and American pop songs, followed by a cover of Adele’s "Set Fire to the Rain." Typhoon then graced the stage with contemporary East and South Asian fan dancing, all in floral white qipaos.
Finally, ReFresH and BLAST closed out the hour with fun hip-hop routines and ballroom dancing respectively, bringing the night full circle and ending on an upbeat note with the diminished crowd clapping along to the beat.
The ISA hopes to make this an annual event to support what they plan to make a yearly service trip.
"We started working with Habitat for Humanity back in October," said Lara Saldanha, Global Engagement Chair of ISA. "We’ll be traveling to a village three hours south of Lima that was destroyed by an earthquake back in 2007. We’ll be helping to rebuild homes since these people have been living in temporary housing since the destruction."
Emcee Akhil Menon, a Weinberg junior, believes this event is not only an important part of fundraising for the Spring Break trip, but it is a way to showcase talent at Northwestern for a unique cause.
"What it caters to is the talent that hides in corners at Northwestern," he said. "These student groups taking initiative to find their creative outlets is what we need and value as a community."