Molly Ashline
  Staff Writer

In stark contrast to the deserted and dreary weather last Saturday, the atmosphere in the Elliot University Center (EUC) buzzed. It also kicked and thumped. It trilled and munched.  At times, it even danced.

This variety was due to the Asian Autumn Festival, which was hosted by UNCG’s International and Global Studies Program (IGSP) and a number of other organizations.

The festival was contained to the second floor of the EUC with tables taking up the main hall of the EUC and the lobby of the auditorium.

Visitors could make lanterns with construction paper and scissors, decorate plates with blue paint in the tradition of Ming Dynasty pottery, and sample Chinese teas and moon cake at the booths. Additionally, plugs for the Asian Studies and Asian languages programs were sprinkled throughout the throng of intriguing festivity.

The festivity continued with diverse performances in the EUC auditorium.

Dr. Roberto Campo, the director of the IGSP and Dr. Jamie Anderson, the head of the history department, took turns introducing the very varied performers.

The schedule of presentations was a hodgepodge. They ran the gambit from educational talks to fashion shows, from solo artists to large groups and from young UNCG students to older community members.

Yoo Brothers Martial arts gave a Tae Kwon Do demonstration complete with impressive flips and definitive wood chopping.

Wesley Bradshaw spoke about JAXA—or, Japan’s version of NASA.

Bradshaw, when asked about JAXA’s budget, inadvertently quipped, “It’s not astronomical.” Solo presentations following Bradshaw were mostly composed of singing or dancing pieces.

Two different UNCG students sang the famous Chinese ditty, “The Moon Represents My Heart.”

Antoinette Huey danced cutely to a Japanese pop song.

“The courage it takes to do that all by yourself,” said Dr. Campo, when asking for another round of applause for Huey.

Immediately preceding the Korean drum line, a woman played the Komungo—a wooden, stringed instrument with a thousand year old history. She played the Komungo in a series of plucks and taps with a bamboo stick.

Do Dream, the Korean drum line, marched on stage in a mélange of tinny sounds on metal pan instruments and thudding beats on hourglass drums.

The drum line flowed and beat through a series of rhythms, gradually building to a driving tempo that could work anyone into a musical frenzy.

Succeeding this traditional exhibition, the Japanese Club, or J-Club, held a fashion show that incorporated both pop culture cosplay and Japanese formal wear.

In a lineup that included both Sailor Moon characters and traditional Kimonos, the J-Club members brought a sense of fun, cultural reverence and creativity to the stage.

J-club also had a turn in the performances.

More silliness and pop culturally infused demonstration wrapped up the day.

Damali Bacchus, preceding her energetic K-Pop (Korean pop music) choreographed dances, preached her love K-Pop, “Even though you may think of it as kind of colorful and sweet—and they do have that aspect, which I really do like—they also have urban…they have funky and the sexy, and they have the dark, and they even have the silly and the quirky.”

After her introduction, Bacchus moved across the stage bare-footed with flair, attitude, and precision through multiple K-Pop songs.

J-Club took back the stage after Bacchus for a Japanese trivia game and Soba eating competition.

The J-Club media officer said something while they set up for the competition that expressed the idea of cultural fun that pervaded the festival: “Pardon us while we noodle around for a little bit.”