The first event for Winthrop University’s Welcome Week was Bollywood Fever, a cultural event that introduced Winthrop students to the world of Hindi film industry and Bollywood. The performance was hosted by the DiGiorgio Student Union on August 17th at 8PM at Tillman Auditorium and was open to both new and returning students showcasing a variety of South Asian dance styles. DSU Performing Arts Chair Emerald Cabanilla commented that this event was a unique event not for the DSU, but to the university in terms of cultural events.
“We’ve never had a Bollywood cultural event at Winthrop University before,” said Cabanilla.
DSU Member and senior Biology major Niya James explained how the DSU was focused on expanding on the cultural events that will be open to students this year, hoping to focus on more experiences.
“For most of DSU’s cultural events, we look to cover societal culture events and more diverse, ethnic cultural events,” said James.
DSU member and junior Middle Level Education major Ray Davis explained how they reached out to the group, Bollywood Touch, to expose the students to something new and spark curiosity about Bollywood musicals when it comes to planning Welcome Week this year.
“We have an essential part of the Welcome Week planning process” said Davis, “We wanted to do something different and bring some culture on campus.”
Bollywood Touch Founder Monica Desai was excited to share with Winthrop students about Bollywood culture, noting how Bollywood is the largest movie industry in the world and how films focus on songs that can make or break a movie to its audience.
“Bollywood movies are put on like full blown musicals” said Desai, “There are musical numbers in these movies so a song and dance go along with it.”
With the variety of dance styles such as Bollywood and Fusion, the program incorporated multiple songs that ranged from Bollywood songs to pop songs that use English lyrics. This shows how Bollywood culture is becoming more mainstream to countries around the world.
“In today’s age, there is a lot happening in Bollywood that relates to American media and film,” said Desai. “I love the educational portion of the show, as we are showing people a taste of India.”
One of the notable performances of the event was the Bharatanatyam style dances, which focused on the dancers using their faces and traditional music to tell a story.
“[That style] depicts multiple stories of Hinduism in dance” said Desai, “It used to be done in temples, but now it’s done in Bollywood movies.”
For the finale, multiple students were brought to the stage to learn Bollywood dance techniques for the final performance of the night. The enthusiasm of the students on stage showed a new interest in learning and exploring more about Bollywood.
“I hope they will develop an interest in Bollywood as you don’t get to hear on the radio,” said Cabanilla.
“I am thrilled that Winthrop University gave us this opportunity to come here and share our culture with the students; they will take away an appreciation of this style of music,” said Desai.
