More than 75 students from diverse backgrounds watched as members of Delta Phi Omega performed the Indian Jogan Jogan dance Tuesday at Asian Oklahoma Night.

The dancers twirled arms and hands while Indian music played in the background to kickoff the 23rd annual event, hosted by the Asian American Student Association.

The event is the group’s biggest fall event and allows various Asian campus organizations to showcase their different cultures and talents, group president Kristina Thai said. It is also meant to spread awareness of Asia’s diversity, she said.

The theme, “One Asia” touches on the diverse and unifying aspects of Asian culture, said group treasurer Oliver Li.

The event began with a comical video of last minute “preparations” for the event. Executive board members said the show took two months put together and preparations included recruiting performers, creating a stage backdrop painting, compiling programs and writing the script.

Various performers were introduced by emcees Bijan Aizimi and TramAnh Lai, Mr. and Ms. Asian OU, respectively.

Li performed a piano piece called “Autumn Moon Over a Calm Lake.” The piece is based on a Chinese folk song inspired by the scenery of West Lake in Hangzhou China.

The martial art Tai Chi Chuan — one of China’s three internal martial arts — was showcased by Xinhai Du. He performed to Chinese cultural music.

Members of the Arab Student Association performed the Debkah Dance, a line dance in which the dancers stamped their feet in time to Arab music.

“Hello Vietnam,” a song by Quynh Anh, was performed in English by Katheryn Thai.

The evening concluded with two cultural skits performed by the Phi Delta Alpha sorority. The skits retold the Chinese folktale, “Zodiac,” and the Korean folktale, “Why is the sea so salty.”

Between performances, videos were used to illustrate cultural aspects of each country represented in the show.

Helen Vu, Vietnamese Student Association member and microbiology and pre-pharmacy junior, said the videos were her favorite part.

“I like how they showed the videos about the different countries,“ she said.

Vu said she came to the event to learn more about the Asian culture.

Attendees judged the six groups and Phi Delta Alpha sorority won first place for their folktale skits. Delta Phi Omega sorority won second with their Jogan Jogan dance.

What is the Asian American Student Association?

It is the umbrella group for all Asian organizations. The group has three goals, to:
» spread cultural awareness,
» serve the community,
» and give Asian American students a chance to bond.

*Source: Asian American Student Association Historian Chris Nguyen, and President Kristina Thai