Awaaz
From Duke Wiki
Diya's annual fall cultural show Awaaz is its most famous signature event and the largest student-run event on campus, with over two hundred performers and over two thousand attendees. The show is planned, arranged and executed entirely by Duke students of a wide range of backgrounds and cultures.
Due to its campus-wide appeal, the SOFC grants broad funding for the promotion and execution of Diya, and therefore tickets are free and the event must be able to accomodate the entire student body. The event is also largely supported by the Multicultural Fund.
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[edit] History
Like DIA (Duke Indian Association) the original name for Diya, Awaaz started with the name Diwali, for the Hindu festival of light.
In recent years as Duke's South Asian student body expanded and diversified, the show was renamed to the more secular Awaaz, meaning "voice." The two-night extravaganza usually sells out the 1200-seat Page Auditorium each year[1]. People from as far away as California have come to see the show as it has achieved a reputation as one of the biggest student run shows in the South-East.
[edit] Format of the Show
Awaaz features performances of dancing, singing, musical groups, skits and videos, and often interspersed with humor. All of the University's competitive dance teams take part in the show, with last years show including Dance Black, Defining Movement, Duke Dhamaka, Lasya, and Sabrosura. Additionally there are numoerous lottery dances which the average Duke student can take part in. Traditionally there is a freshman dance, senior dance, and three other dances open to all ages.
Awaaz runs for two nights every year, both nights offering the same show. Awaaz is meant to educate the Duke community on South Asian culture through entertaining performances including dances, musical pieces, political awareness acts and comedic skits.
In addition to the actual show, there is a dinner on both nights in the Great Hall in which food from across South Asia is served. This year's show will be held on November 10th and 11th with dinner beginning at 5:00pm and the actual show at 7:00pm.
[edit] Awaaz 2006
This year's show will be held on November 10th and 11th at Page Auditorium. Tryouts for the show will be September 17 at McLendon Fifth Floor.
Those who wish to learn more about tryouts are advised to attend an interest meeting Thursday September 7 at the WEL Media Room. Those who cannot attend or who miss the meeting can e-mail either of this year's co-chairs, Aashna Kircher and Tariq Mohideen, at awaaz2006@gmail.com.
Flyers and advertisements have already been put up within the first few weeks of school letting everyone know that Awaaz, indeed, is approaching very fast.
[edit] Awaaz 2005
Awaaz 2005 centered on "The Competition" theme. A large introductory portion of the show set the stage for a dance-off between Diya and the Administration over the future of Awaaz (with the Administration, of course, wanting Awaaz gone in favor of more Spanish Benches)
The susbequent acts featured an eclectic mix of dance from all regions of South Asia, many of them even further modified to appeal to contemporary tastes. A particularly beautiful segment featured traditional sung Islamic prayers.
The emcees of the show were Bob Pan, Trinity '06, Shivum Agrawal, Trinity '06, and Sweta Patel, Trinity '07. Their charm and humor kept the night rolling along at a relatively fast pace, despite the length of the show.
[edit] Criticisms
The show suffered from many of its usual deficiencies, some of which are structural and to the credit of the Awaaz staff, cannot be avoided. Each show ran over time though billed at only two hours and fifteen minutes. Some of this can be traced to the inexperience, at that time, of the new Page Auditorium Tech crew for Awaaz 2005 was their first major event at Duke. To their credit, it must be noted that the second nights show was considerably shorter than the first, clocking at approximately two hrs and forty-five minutes.
Though last years show was irregularly close to the final testing period, the show is normally held during the first two weeks of November.
