Get Cultured
Posted on February 28, 2008
On Saturday night in Memorial Hall, the Vietnamese Student Association held its second annual culture show.
The show started out with a skit portraying a Vietnamese-American family watching television. As they switched between channels, the children and the audience learned new things about Vietnamese culture.
“We want to spread cultural diversity,” said junior Nammy Nguyen, president of VSA. “It also allows Vietnamese students to express their heritage and background while learning about it at the same time.”
The performers in the show acted out a montage of traditional and modern dances, singing acts and a spoken word act, written and performed by sophomore Alex Kim, called “Sight, Unsight.” There was also a game show titled “Are You Smarter Than a Vietnamese?,” mimicking Fox’s “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader” and “Jeopardy.” Traditional and modern clothes were shown on a runway simultaneously to show the change of styles through the years.
All of the acts were choreographed and thought up by the members of VSA. Co-coordinator Vivian Tran said the culture show started coming together after Winter Break. Since then, the performers have been practicing for hours every week in preparation.
“It was rough in the beginning, but it slowly came together,” Tran said. “We had a lot of fun.”
VSA was also helping to fundraise for the Vietnamese Overseas Initiative for Conscience Empowerment, by selling raffle tickets. VOICE is a non-profit organization that advocates the protection of Vietnamese refugees and the counter-trafficking of Vietnamese women and children. Pha-Le Le, a student from University of Maryland, came to speak about the project.
JMU is one of many schools in an organization called the Mid-Atlantic Union of Vietnamese Student Association. Every year, all the schools within the region help to fundraise for one charitable organization. Le is the external vice president for the organization. She helps to supply all of the regional schools with necessary materials to fundraise as well as encourage helping the schools put together fundraisers.
“We travel to different schools and regions when we are needed and make presentations,” she said.
A slideshow showcased the activities of VSA throughout the year, the preparation of the culture show, and a tribute to the seniors that were leaving in May. Students interested in learning more about VSA can visit orgs.jmu.edu/vsa/.
