The audience got to do more than just see what Indonesian culture has to offer on Sunday at the sold-out Indonesian Night 2005: “From Our Eyes to Yours.”

They could also touch traditional artifacts on display, taste and smell authentic Indonesian food and hear music from two live bands.

Basil Mahayni, multicultural director for the Student Union Board and senior in political science, says he was surprised by the variations between the cultures of the different islands of Indonesia.

“Indonesia is much more diverse than I expected,” he says.

The entertainment for the night included a presentation detailing the cultural characteristics of the five major islands in Indonesia: Java, Sumatra, Bali, Kalimantan and Maluku. A male and female dressed in traditional costume educated the audience with facts about each island and information about its geographical location. A dance also accompanied each island’s presentation.

Muhamad Juhari, president of the Indonesian Student Association, says he believes the event was successful in showcasing the different aspects of Indonesian culture.

“It’s all of Indonesia at a glance,” he says.

Mahayni said he thought the biggest hit of the night was the Gaba-Gaba dance of the Maluku region.

“That was one that I had heard about,” he says.

This dance included five male and five female dancers, as well as four long bamboo sticks.

Five of the dancers held the sticks in a criss-cross pattern, close to the floor, while the other dancers took turns jumping over the moving sticks.

Marcella Adriany, senior in marketing, introduced the island of Java and also performed in three of the dances.

Adriany says the dancers practiced once a week since January and up to three times a week the last three weeks before the event. She says she wasn’t sure the dances would come together.

“It was pretty stressful,” she says. “We really thought that we couldn’t do it.”

Juhari says he was most impressed with the dancers’ performance in the Giring-Giring Dance, which is the traditional wedding ceremony of the Dayak tribe in Kalimantan, because they largely prepared for it on their own.

“The choreographer only showed it to them once,” he says.

The dances were taught to the students by I Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda, the Consulate General of Indonesia from Chicago.

Juhari was also surprised by the number of people who showed up at the event, which he says was much more than originally expected. He estimates the club sold around 430 tickets and says the show was sold out.

“We feel bad because we couldn’t let more people in,” he says.