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Feinberg Students Showcase Diversity through Music, Dance, Fashion in Fusion 2011

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Fusion 2011 on March 5. The event featured song, dance, and other performances that highlighted the diversity of the medical school’s student body.

From bluegrass music to Bollywood dance, the show included nine acts and more than 50 student participants. To start the show, Abhi Bhandari (M4), David Chen (M4), Nikhil Gupta, BA ’07 (M4), Andy Jain (M4), Anirudh Penukonda (M4), and Victor Roy, BA ’07 (M1), offered an East meets West musical performance by their group, Gulab Jammin’. Their set combined traditional Indian music and instruments with modern pop and rock songs like “Crazy in Love,” by Beyonce, and “When I Ruled the World,” by Coldplay.

Next up, members of Feinberg’s Dance Interest Group, Blair Dina (M1) and Kate Swanson (M2), showcased their talent in modern dance. Then, during the fashion show, students modeled traditional outfits from Nigeria, Mozambique, China, India, Japan, Korea, Ghana, Indonesia, Algeria, and Hawaii.

Acoustic
first-year students Ashish Sarraju and Nikhil Ram Mohan used only their voices and guitars to perform “Hotel California,” by the Eagles, and “Woh Lamhe,” a Hindu song.

As part of the show’s “unplugged sessions,” Ashish Sarraju (M1) and Nikhil Ram Mohan (M1) used only their voices and guitars to perform “Hotel California,” by the Eagles, and “Woh Lamhe,” a Hindu song. Later, student Peter Collister (M2) also played the acoustic guitar while singing a Christian song, “Desire,” by Phil Wickham.

A five-piece band comprised of piano, guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, and bassoon played a mix of funk, blues, rock, and bluegrass songs like “Old Home Place,” a classic bluegrass piece, and “Imagine,” by John Lennon. Musicians included medical students Jack Dougherty, BA ’10 (M1), and Kevin Liu, BS ’10 (M1), and undergraduate students Charleen Fei, Carl Goldberg, and Salil Kalra — friends who met at Northwestern and bonded over their shared love for the band Phish.

Having danced together for many years as undergraduates and medical students, Manali Bhave, BA ’07 (M4), Meghan Bhave, BA ’07 (M4), Anita Goyal, BS ’08 (M2), Ekta Gupta, BA ’07 (M4), Kavitha Ranganathan, BA ’07 (M4), and Ami Shah, BA ’07 (MX), joined together for a medley of Bollywood songs before Lalitha Sitaraman, BA ’06 (M4), performed the operatic piece, “Ici-Bas,” by Gabriel Faure, in both French and English.

To end the show, more than a dozen Salseros — medical, business, and law students who attend the Salsa Friday Class taught by Feinberg students Timi Wusu (M2) and Joy Beissel (M2) — delighted the audience with their well choreographed salsa moves.

Opera
Fourth-year medical student Lalitha Sitaraman performed the operatic piece, “Ici-Bas,” by Gabriel Faure.

Fusion 2011 was coordinated by a board of directors: first-year students Alfred Chung, Urshila Durani, BA ’10, Tolulope Fatokun, Stephanie Ha, BA ’09, Anita Petit-Homme, Kevin Liu, BS ’10, Nilay Shah, Shreya Shah, and Julie Wolfe.

“We knew there was talent at the medical school, but we had no idea how much. We feel very lucky to have so many students that wanted to be a part of the show,” says Wolfe, who served as one of the show’s coordinators. “Fusion is special to Feinberg, as it’s a night to celebrate the diversity of our student body and the talent among the students.”

Proceeds from this year’s show went to the following student organizations: Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association, Chinatown Clinic, New Life Volunteering Society, South Asian Medical Student Association, and the Student National Medical Association. These clinics and charities provide health-related services to underserved populations across Chicago. They also offer Feinberg students invaluable opportunities to gain experience in healthcare delivery.