Tiffany To (left) and Jenny Huynh at the annual Vietnamese Student Association culture show on March 5. Credit: Ashley Wilkinson / Lantern Reporter
The Vietnamese Student Association will give more than $1,000 to Kids Without Borders after holding an event Saturday to give students a taste of Vietnamese culture.
The group raised $1,300 for the nonprofit organization from tickets sales to the group’s show, themed “Back to the Roots,” which displayed aspects of Vietnamese culture through different activities, including dances and skits.
Jeff Stewart, a fourth-year in welding engineering and a board member of VSA, said he was proud of the production.
“My favorite part was seeing how many people from local and out-of-state communities came to watch the show,” Stewart said. “We were excited with the amount of interest people had and are grateful to have had such a great audience to perform for.”
He said that although he was only featured in part of the production during a fashion show, he, as well as other board members and volunteers, worked to make the experience the best it could be and to successfully spread the message of VSA’s philanthropy.
VSA sold 150 presale tickets before the event and about 100 more tickets at the door.
“Preparing for the show has definitely been a rollercoaster,” said Tiffany To, a co-director for the show and a second-year in biology. “But what I love is that we never gave up. It sounds so cheesy, but I think we have something amazing in VSA that so many of us are willing to practice hours a week for months for our biggest events of the year.”
To also commented on her love for this year’s theme because of her father, who traveled to America from Vietnam as a refugee after the fall of Saigon.
“So many times we get caught up in life and forget about our roots and the hardships our parents went through to get us to where we are now,” To said.
One performance was the shadow dance, a dance done behind a white sheet so that the audience could only see the shadows of the performers. To stated that the dance was choreographed around a love story during the Vietnam War, depicting a soldier and his wife struggling with the emotional toll, as well as danger the war put on their community.
”The show is a reminder that our culture needs to be passed down through generations,” To said.
