Traditional and contemporary culture blended seamlessly at UF during the Asian American Student Union's "Rolling Out the Red Carpet" assembly Friday night.
Customary ribbon and fan dances were performed alongside hip-hop choreography and step routines on the stage of the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
Other Asian-American student groups were given a chance to perform for a 1,500-member audience, including the Chinese-American Student Association, Filipino Student Association, Health Educated Asian Leaders, Korean Undergraduate Student Association, Vietnamese Student Organization, alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, Kappa Phi Lambda Sorority, Pi Delta Psi Fraternity and Asian Kaleidoscope Month.
Some of the groups chose to dance, while others performed skits, showed films or spoke about the organizations they represented.
This year's assembly, which was organized by the Asian American Student Union, was the 17th anniversary of the event. It was also the largest in the assembly's history, according to assembly co-director Dorothy Charles.
The size of the event attracted UF President Bernie Machen, who delivered opening remarks before Friday's assembly.
"This show brings together a lot of Asian organizations, but it's so much more than that," said Jenn Nguyen, a 2010 UF graduate and former internal vice president of the Vietnamese Student Organization.
"Look around. There are people in the audience from every heritage and background. This showcase is for everyone, not just Asians."
The assembly was designed with freshmen in mind, Charles said, and was meant to encourage students to become an active part of the Asian-American community,
"I just want everyone to know how welcoming we are," she said.
Sophomore nuclear engineering major JaNaye Major said the assembly opened her eyes to the prominence of Asian student groups on campus.
"I didn't even know a lot of these organizations even existed," she said. "So it's great to see how talented the students in them really are."
Major sang along when the Vietnamese Student Organization performed a dance to "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz.
She said the best part of the event was the variety of organizations on one stage.
"I came here to be blown away by culture," she said. "And I certainly was."
