Indonesia Night 2003 filled the Atwood Memorial Center's ballroom Saturday night with over 300 participants. The sold out show brought diversity to the SCSU campus by showcasing traditional Indonesian shows, music and authentic food.

Audience members included people from all ages, nationalities and backgrounds. Introduced to the lifestyles of Indonesian food, dress, music and crafts, the crowd was never left with a dull moment. The 15 members of the Indonesian Student Organization were aided by volunteers to help the night be a success.

The night began with a video presentation which illustrated Indonesia today to portray how their family members live now. Following two songs from an Angklung, a bamboo musical instrument which is shaken to produce sound, dinner was served. The meal consisted of several rare dishes as well as some common to our culture. Pork, beef, chicken and a vegetarian cuisine were served with white rice.

A few sauces were also available, consisting of a peanut sauce and a delicate chili sauce, which was extremely hot. Crunchy shrimp crackers and Es Sarang Burung, an imitation bird nest with pineapple on ice, was served for dessert. Following the dinner, many talented performers took to the stage to show off Indonesian music and dance as well as Indonesian attire. The St. Cloud Gamelan, an Indonesian style orchestra, performed several songs on special instruments, nearly covering the entire stage.

Consisting of metal gongs and other metal percussion instruments, this music is a traditional music style sometimes played at Indonesian weddings. "It's like an Indonesian orchestra, with metal gongs and metal xylophones," said Stephen Fuller, Indonesian Student Organization advisor and Gamelan member. Fuller learned about the Gamelan while teaching at the university of Hawaii. After the ornate instruments were lent from a group in the Twin Cities about seven years ago, the St. Cloud Gamelan gained interest.

"We've had the Gamelan running full blast now for five years, and each year it seems to pick up more interest," he said. "Last year we had 15 (members), this year we have 23 (members), there seems to be more and more interest." Other dances, originating from various places of Indonesia were also shown, including the Seudati dance which involves harmonious body movements with clapping and tapping of the dancers' chests, as well as the Batak dance, a dance done in honor and respect to family members, often seen at funerals and special occasions.

Rounding out the evening, SCSU student volunteers held a fashion show sporting traditional Indonesian fashions. Ornate, colorful dresses were shown on the stage illustrating the dress of Indonesia's ethnicities. Several pop bands took the stage to share their pop culture with the dwindling audience.

The music resembled western rock music and was well received by the remaining, mostly younger, crowd members. This similar music style is just one of many similarities between the U.S. and the Indonesian culture according to Mr. Fuller. "As you can hear from the band, there is a lot of crossover, it's (the cultural changes) gone both ways," he said. Judging from crowd response, the event was a success. "It's just been great, the food is great, it's very interesting and I hope they (the audience) liked it," said Randall Paath, Indonesian Student Organization president.

"This is the biggest crowd we've ever had, it's the first time we had it in the ballroom." People don't know Indonesia a lot, a lot of people from here (the U.S.) don't even know where Indonesia is, for us it is a regular thing." ISO is open to everyone and currently has 15 members. "I hope we can continue (being an organization), that is our main goal," Paath said. That goal, however, may be challenging due to the reduced numbers of Indonesian students who have been enrolling at SCSU. "They did great, it was great to hear them," past Gamelan member, Ann Freelove said.