When Boston University Vietnamese Student Association members began thinking of creative ways to promote their annual cultural show, they merged two distinct styles.
Fusing Vietnamese tradition with American influences through dance and other arts, this year’s show, “Little Saigon by Night,” brought more than 150 people to the George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Hall on Saturday night.
BUVSA intended to give people from Vietnamese backgrounds a better understanding of their culture, said secretary Tuyen Nguyen, a College of Arts and Sciences sophomore.
“Most of the time, us kids in America don’t get a chance to wear traditional clothing, so it’s a time to show our culture in a different manner,” she said.
Guest performer Van Quynh, a 22-year-old pop singer who opened and closed for the three-hour show, performed Vietnamese songs and some English ones, including several covers from pop-culture artists such as Shakira.
“I thought [Van Quynh] was very professional, and I loved her outfit,” said School of Management freshman Alice Myatt. “It looked like she knew exactly what she was doing, and she seemed very passionate.”
The show included three fashion shows, in which BUVSA members donned themselves in urban wear and iPods, dresses made entirely of tissue paper and AoDai, a traditional Vietnamese dress.
“In previous years, the show was mostly Vietnamese, but this year, we got to incorporate different sides,” Nguyen said.
BU’s Alpha Kappa Delta Phi sorority put on a hip-hop performance, and other BUVSA members performed “Feathered Illusion,” a Vietnamese dance using fans.
The “Movement of the Flowered Umbrella,” included dancers with umbrellas, and another dance featured a form of traditional ballroom dancing.
BUVSA members said they attracted a variety of attendees from the Boston area by distributing flyers in Dorchester and Chinatown.
Nicholas Ye, vice president of the Vietnamese Student Association at Suffolk University, said BUVSA’s show was “unique and completely different than what I’ve seen before.”
BUVSA members said the show gave the 40-member group a unique opportunity to promote Vietnamese culture to college students, particularly at BU.
“There are kids that don’t get to interact with people from their culture or get to talk to people using their native language,” Nguyen said.
