On Saturday evening, Culture X lit up the night with a fantastic compilation of cultural dance and music performances in Levin Ballroom. The Brandeis student body obviously knew they were in for something special, because it was one of the biggest crowds I have seen in the ballroom.

No single culture was in the spotlight during the show-one could say that it was the Brandeis culture that was on display at Culture X. The show's program stated that Culture X's mission was to "celebrate the diversity that exists within the Brandeis community," and this was executed with incredible success.

Alex Esakof '16 started off the show with a light performance. The program comically described this performance as "just a dude swinging things in the dark." The spinning spirals of color were mesmerizing and soothing. The spirals moved clockwise one second and then, without pause, would switch direction. It was the perfect introductory piece to get the crowd excited for the rest of the show.

One of the more unique performances of the night put a twist on a traditional Filipino dance, performed by the South East Asia Club Tinikling Group. Two students crouched on the floor holding two long, wooden sticks between them. The students tapped rhythms on the ground with the stick while, above them, a couple danced in between and outside of the sticks in coordination with the sticks' movement.

The first vocal performance of the night, "Will and James Present: The Namjas" gave the audience a beautiful mix of complex harmonies. The three performers, James Lee '13, Will Cheon '15 and Clarence Lee '15, sat onstage in a very unassuming manner. Clarence played the guitar and sang, while Cheon and Lee added their vocals to the songs as well. Though there were some technical difficulties, the three men handled it with style and were not a bit flustered by the mishap.

Brandeis' step team, So Unique, performed a piece that combined rhythm and skilled dance. There was no background music-the dancers made their own music by clapping and stomping in perfectly coordinated motions. At one point, the group separated itself into three smaller groups and each group did their own step dance, impressively maintaining one unified rhythm. The crowd was shouting and hollering their friends' names the whole time.

Later, Brandeis Asian American Student Association presented Project BAASA, an upbeat dance performed by 13 Brandeisians. The program mentioned that the group's main goal is to "disprove stereotypes, especially the image of a quiet student" and to show that "Asian Americans can be talented and confident." The group danced to hip-hop and rap music and had an aura of confidence about them the whole time. Even their outfits-bright red shirts and distressed jeans-showed that they were definitely not the image of the "quiet [Asian] student," as the program explains.

Members of the Adagio Dance Ensemble performed a dance to Ellie Goulding's emotional ballad "Joy," choreographed by Morgan Conley '13. This beautiful dance was a nice contrast to BAASA's much louder and more energetic display. The dancers leapt and twirled across the stage to Goulding's dreamy music, their movements smooth, fluid and reminiscent of ballet.

Toward the end of the show, one of Brandeis' most popular dance groups, KAOS Kids, presented a dance: "Channel KAOS." The performance was spectacular-amusing, creative and technically perfect-it was clear that the group had spent hours perfecting their moves. They danced to TV show themes, including Spongebob Squarepants and America's Next Top Model. I sat with my jaw dropped, spellbound by their talent, energy and technique.

The show's hosts D'Andre Young '15 and Naya Stevens '15 said this might have been one of the best Culture X shows to date. Although this was my first year attending Culture X, I can't imagine a better show than this one.