MIT Grains of Rice 2007
Okay, so I lied. I said I’d recap the Grains of Rice a few days earlier. Well, better late than never right? Anyway. The Ninth Annual Grains of Rice at MIT took place on April 22. Overall, I thought it was a fairly entertaining event. (Although they ran out of Boba Tea by the time I got to the food!) As the largest event put on by the MIT Asian American Association in the 2006-2007 academic year, Grains of Rice featured both contemporary and traditional performances in one three hour show.
The show kicked off with a rousing Korean drum performance from MIT Oori. This was followed by dance performances put on by the MIT Filipino Students Association, MIT Chamak, and the MIT Thai Students Association. I particularly enjoyed the MIT Filipino Students Association’s Tinikling dance, a Filipino folk dance that imitates the movements of the tikling bird dodging bamboo traps. One could describe the dance as double dutch with bamboo sticks instead of jump rope. While two parallel bamboo sticks are moved around, the dancers’ feet flash in and out, carefully avoiding the sticks at all times.
Grains of Rice 2007 - MIT from BPR on Vimeo.
Following the three dance performances, the audience was treated to singer-songwriter Jay Legaspi, a close friend of Boston Progress. He did three songs, Said Unheard, Such Great Heights (a Postal Service cover), and T-Shirt and Sweats. His voice was soulful and as usual, I felt emotionally moved by the contents of his songs. Maybe I’m just a sap, but it brings tears to my eyes. For my sake, he really oughta stop writing those love songs and breakup songs… and instead play Journey covers.
R&B Ailah started off the second half of the show. And while I think she’s a very talented singer, I did not feel connected to the music. Maybe it was the venue or maybe it was the crowd. I don’t know.
The final act of the night was Jin. Jin is known for winning the Freestyle Fridays competition on BET’s 106 & Park. He has released several albums, included his most recent album “ABC,” an album sung completely in Cantonese. I will admit that before the show, I had low expectations. Boy, did he surprise me. He’s an excellent live performer and I felt that he was able to energize the crowd. From his performance, I felt that he has a clear understanding of what it means for him to be both Chinese and American.
My favorite song that he did was “ABC”, the title track off his latest album. He also did an emotional piece about the struggles that various ethnic groups have faced.
Overall, it was almost a perfect night of food, song, and dance… if only they had more Boba Tea!
Last 5 posts by eugene
- Yet another post on the supratarsal fold - May 12th, 2008
- Famous Asian Americans I Want to Meet - May 6th, 2008
- As I Am: Asians In America Goes National - May 4th, 2008
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- Boston Independent Film Festival 2008 - April 21st, 2008
Tags: Recaps.
That cover of Such Great Heights is so hot… I want to make babies with it.