MotivAsians Taste of Asia John Carroll University November 2, 2024
MotivAsians for Cleveland is a non-profit organization established to cultivate a vibrant Asian community for Greater Cleveland by promoting the attraction and retention of Asian-American professionals. They also welcome people of all backgrounds to join to learn about the Asian culture.
They hosted their first Taste of Asia gala banquet in the Dolan center of John Carroll University on Saturday November 2, 2024. The gala banquet featured culinary creations from Asian restaurants of NE Ohio including: Himalayan Restaurant, Tita Flora's, Noble House, Khaao Macha Indian Fusion, Choolaah Indian BBQ and Dang Good Foods.
During dinner attendees bid on items from the Gift Basket Raffle/Auction.
Gabriel Kramer of Ideastream served as MC for the event. Gabe is of Filipino heritage and welcomed the crowd and then introduced MotivAsians president Cynthia Bellian who thanked her team and gave background on the group.
Cynthia Bellian and Gabriel Kramer
There were several performances beginning with the Grammy award winning pianist Angelin Chang.
Angelin Chang
Here is a video of Dr. Chang's performance of two songs: The Moon Represents My Heart followed by Flower Drum Song.
Next, four ladies from Viva Dance Studio performed.
Viva Dance Studio performance
Here is a video of the Viva Dance Studio's performance.
Next, Mrs. Mieko Fujimoto and Emily Viland gave a demonstration of Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement. They are members of Ikebana International Cleveland Chapter #20. Typically, program meetings are scheduled for the first Wednesday of the month at the Cleveland Botanical Garden.
Next was a Kimono demonstration from Traeonna Wagener from Kimono Kitsune.
Traeonna spoke about and demonstrated the Japanese fashion of kimono as well as fusion fashion which combines clothing and accessories from two or more different styles (e.g., Lolita+Kimono) or cultures (e.g., Japanese+American) to create a unique look.
Traeonna Wagener
Watch a video of the Kimono presentation.
Next were Polynesian dances from Pacific Paradise Entertainment.
Pacific Paradise Entertainment Dance
Watch a video of the first two dances from Pacific Paradise Entertainment.
The next dance emphasized the hip movement to the drum beat. Watch.
For the final dance they called up volunteers from the audience who put on grass skirts. Then they taught the basic moves by calling out 4 fruits: mango, coconut, pineapple and banana. Then a smoothie to mix them all together.
Audience Participation Polynesian Dance by Pacific Paradise
Watch the video. It was a lot of fun.
Then, the Cleveland Phoenix Club performed a classical Chinese Fan Dance routine. Watch the video.
Cleveland Phoenix Club Fan Dance
The final performance was by Maanasa Humchad and Maitri Radhesh who performed a Bollywood Indian Fusion Dance.
Maanasa Humchad and Maitri Radhesh
After the performances, the silent auction winners were announced and Cynthia Bellian called up the MotivAsians board members.
MotivAsians board members
After some concluding remarks, the evening continued with a Karaoke sign along. Here are a few more images from the MotivAsians Taste of Asia event.
Cynthia Bellian and Gabriel Kramer
Pacific Paradise dancer
Volunteer at the MotivAsians sign in table
Some of the silent auction items
Cynthia Bellian and family members
Lots of delicious Asian food
Cleveland Dragon Boat display
MC Gabriel Kramer
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