by Jack Xiang

Fordham, a conservative Jesuit college, is a completely different environment from Stony Brook. Other than being a much smaller college, their demography is also very different; all in all there are less than one hundred Asians in their college. This makes the EPIC show and the presence of the Asian Cultural Exchange even more of an achievement. Having such a small population would usually limit the performance that a school could put on, but foreseeing this, they found the solution in outside talent. A mix of both student and professional performance made the show a complete success which did not leave you bored for a moment.

The show started with two very exciting acts, Taiko Masala and the Bo Law Kung Fu Lion Dance. Taiko Masala was nothing short of tremendous; the roaring drums of the Japanese Taiko drumming marked the start of the EPIC show. Taiko Masala themselves are very famous for integrating modern and traditional Japanese style, playing throughout the United States for over ten years. Right after they had the Bo Law Kung Fu Lion Dance group came in and put on a show with two lions. Showing off their martial arts prowess, they performed impressive acrobatics. The Bow Law Kung Fu Lion Dance group is no stranger to many people, they had been on several television shows and have performed for both Mayor Bloomberg’s campaign in 2005 and were on ABC’s “The View”.

These two performances then lead to the student part of the show, with Amy Hua on the Gu Zheng and ACE’s Korean fan dance group. Amy Hua was amazing on the Gu Zheng and should be no stranger to Stony Brook students, seeing as how she is a resident Stony Brook student. Amy has played for five years, and teaches students ranging from six to sixty. Her playing was inspirational; one could literally picture raging tornadoes to a flowing creek. The show following was ACE’s student body performing a Korean fan dance. The fan dance is one of the more popular aspects of Korean culture and ACE did not let anyone down. From the colorful costumes to the intricate dance steps, you could see the work that they put into the performance.

Following these student performances there was a brief intermission that was followed by a short singing performance and an unforgettable finale. The singing was performed by two of ACE’s members, Jia Liu and Darren Jiang. They sang two Chinese songs, one an older song, “Tian Mimi” and a more contemporary song “Liang Shanbo Yu Zhu Yingtai”. Following these two songs was the incredible finale. The club hired, “Spinnin’ Ronin”, a group that puts on shows that fuses modern dance, theatre, hip-hop and martial arts. They were unforgettable and did not disappoint at all. It was an incredible show that told the story of revenge against a lord who destroyed villages. The music and the action for the entire show were wonderful and should not to be missed by anyone. In fact you can catch “Spinnin’ Ronin” at the La Mama Theatre in NYC.

The EPIC show in fact did draw a good amount of audience; having over a hundred people attend any performance at Fordham is unusual. Within the 7 years of formation, the ACE has changed from just a small group of friends that ate together to an organization capable of putting on great performances. The EPIC show itself was a great success not only due to the performances of their students but mainly because of their networking skills and their talent at hiring great outside talent. This balance between student talent and outside talent complimented each other and resulted in a great evening.