A giant Indian flag hung as a backdrop to the stage in Eisenhower Auditorium yesterday afternoon. Instead of the normal wheel symbol, this flag's center was a Nittany Lion logo.

It was part of the set of The Big Show: An Indian Cultural Extravaganza, put on by the Indian Student Association. Vishal Desai (junior-finance), president of ISA, estimated the size of the flag in a number of king-size sheets. "It was made out of bedsheets," he said. "The actual lion was made out of duct tape."

The program began with the playing of the Indian national anthem. Members of the audience sang softly along as two of the show's cultural chairs held the Indian flag on stage.

Desai then gave a welcoming message and called for a moment of silence in response to the recent deadly earthquake in India.

"Although the earthquake happened in India, the aftershocks are felt around the world," Desai said.

Following the introduction, the show's four emcees performed a skit in which they acted as if they were in a movie. The emcees interacted with the audience through movie-based skits, including a pun on The Matrix, in between the fourteen acts.

Most of the acts were dances performed by ISA members, but some included young members of the local Indian community. "Every year we have at least one community act," said Desai. "The State College (Indian) community helps us out a lot. They come to all our events."

Dances ranged from older, classical styles to modern remixes. In his introduction to the show, Desai said that the student generation, the current ISA members, are a mix of both Eastern and Western cultures.

"In America, we are known as Indians, and when we go back to India, we're known as Americans," he said.

He said that this was the reason that much of the soundtrack was remixed music, and the acts had new-age twists.

Karishma Patel (sophomore-political science and psychology), one of the cultural chairs of ISA said that the groups chose their own music and that remixing was fairly popular.

"A lot of people enjoy seeing when they mix modern and traditional into one," she said. "It's like a new trend that's going on right now."

One group performed a traditional stick dance called Dandia Raas. Partway through the act, the music changed and the stage lights went off, revealing glowing tips on the sticks. The audience cheered as they watched the swirling neon lights on stage.

Another crowd-pleaser was the dance act called "8 1/2 Desis." "Desi" is a slang term for Indians, and when the 10-person group counted the number of Indians within it, they had eight members of full Indian heritage and one half-Indian member. The dancers in the act were all graduating seniors.

LeeAnn Tice (sophomore-animal sciences) came to the show to watch one of her roommates perform. "This is my first time ever coming to one of these things," Tice said. "Before we came here, we did her hair and everything."

Tice's roommate participated in the fashion show. She wore green as a member of a group in traditional Indian dress in the three colors of the Indian flag. The flag segment of the show corresponded with a particular song that was playing.

Patel said that it "is a very popular song that came out during India's 50th year of independence celebration."

The final two acts of the evening were upbeat back-to-back dance pieces. The first group was an all-female performance, and the second, the Bombay Boyz, was all-male. A small glitch in the music track almost ended the closing routine early, and some in attendance thought that the entire show had ended. After a few minutes, the Bombay Boyz restarted their act and completed it.

Two acts notably did not include dancing. One was a comedy and magic performance by a set of twins. One brother "swallowed" a long balloon and pretended to choke on it while his twin dragged him offstage.

The other non-dancing act, called "201 Garner Court," featured a set of four roommates playing a classical style of Indian music. The ensemble included a tambura, which is a string instrument, tabla, which are hand drums, a keyboard and a singer reciting lyrics. The most interesting thing about the group's performance was that only one member was actually Indian.

"To see non-Indians do that, that was good," Desai said.