Dressed in a turquoise traditional Chinese dress from the 1920s, second-year political science and Asian American studies student Vi Lee wrapped a keffiyeh around themself on stage in Jack Adams Hall Friday evening.
Lee, a member of both the Asian Student Union and the Student Union, joined their two roles in a performance at the annual Asian Student Union Talent Show. For their performance, they gave a six-minute speech — the same speech they had given on the Oct. 8th day-long strike — as a form of solidarity with the people of Palestine.
“My personal rife with ASU is that it really isn’t as political as it used to be,” said Lee. “Especially being so involved with Student Union, I really want to see ASU and Asian Americans in general stepping more into that space just because we tend to get discounted as an apolitical community.”
Many performers, like Lee, contributed to an eclectic nine-act showcase of San Francisco State University students’ passions, with about 30 people attending. The Asian Student Union has hosted the event annually since the early 2010s but has not been able to host one in the past year due to busy schedules and difficulty booking a venue, according to Lee, the group’s external public relations coordinator.
This year’s event marked its first return from its one-year break.
“Ideally, we have a big event each semester,” said Kayla Dang, the organization’s membership coordinator. “As long as people have fun, that’s all that really matters.”
Stephanie Yau Barria, a second-year marketing and international business student, gave a solo contemporary hula hoop dance to the song “Trampoline” by SHAED. Yau Barria performed multiple tricks like spinning the hula hoop around her neck down to her feet, around one ankle and jump roping through the hoop.
Yau Barria had to balance rehearsing for her act along with keeping up with her schoolwork for the past week.
“I was trying to finish all the homework that I have first, then focus on finals, then in the gaps that I have between classes or after classes, I go practice,” said Yau Barria.
Some students felt the same pressure throughout the week leading up to the talent show to get their performances ready for the stage.
Jared Lai was one of the nine members of a dance group under the name “Constellation Family” who performed a 30-second synchronized sing and dance in matching outfits to the song “Touch” by Katseye.
Lai estimates that he and his group practiced for about six hours for a 30-second dance in the past week.
“Even just 30 seconds, it’s hard to get it down,” Lai, the fourth-year student, said. “But you know what? It was our last year to do a talent show, so why not perform it together.”
Solo performer, Navraj Mushiana, showcased a performance of breaking watermelons with his elbow. Mushiana felt confident about his act since he discovered his talent about a year ago when he was in a grocery store and elbowed a watermelon motivated by his “intrusive thoughts” and surprised himself when the watermelon cracked in half.
Mushiana had only performed his talent to his family or anybody who happened to see him break watermelons in that fashion.
On stage, the third-year student successfully smashed two watermelons after a total of eight hits in stark contrast to the soft piano melody of “Hinoki Wood” by Gia Margaret, which played during the act.
“Don’t give up on your dreams,” said Mushiana. “If you experience anything that makes you feel like you can’t win, you got to ignore those thoughts and push through.”
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