Elephant Extravaganza a Smashing Success!

The South Asia Center was excited to again participate in the Annual Elephant Extravaganza at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo. In addition to watching the elephants smash watermelons, paint pictures, and do tricks, those who attend the event learned a bit more about the cultures, languages and dance styles of South Asia. We were fortune to have two different styles of dance performance this year. Durga Bor, from Cornell University, performed in the Odissi dance tradition while Leann Thayaparan, Sneha Dontha and Rachael Thomas, students at Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville Dewitt High Schools, performed the South Indian classical dance, Bharatanatyam. The henna designs, designed and applied by Carly Dwyer were also quite popular. A big thanks to the faculty and students who volunteered at the Asian Elephant Extravaganza: Cecilia VanHollen (Director, SAC), Anand Dwivedi (Associate Director), Karen McNamara (Anthropology), Ian Wilson (Anthropology), Jocelyn Killmer (Anthropology), Rajyasree Banerjee (History), Amy Friers (Political Science), Akbar Quraishi (International Relations), Carly Dwyer (Religion), and Emily Cloyd (Environmental Policy, ESF). The 5th Annual Elephant Extravaganza will be August 20, 2011. See you there!