"We've always done skits, but this year we had lots of stuff between acts," Tambar says. "One comment I heard was that no one was bored at any time during the show-every second was exciting."

In the show's ongoing humorous skit, for example, a detective was investigating the murder of one of the cast members. Although the skit's inclusion was initially surprising to many in the audience, several audience members said they thoroughly enjoyed as a counterpoint to the other more "serious" acts.

Vasan says the new format still produced a show just as long as previous years-three hours on some nights, although closer to four Saturday night-but that did not seem as long for the audience.

"We had this hypothesis that if we changed the show [by eliminating narration], it would change the feel of the show for the audience," Vasan says. "This year we wanted the audience to be engaged, with no lull in the action."

Tambar says he thinks this year's show put past productions to shame.

"The show was amazing, the best I've ever seen of Ghungroo," he says. "The tech was better, things ran more smoothly and the set was the most beautiful of any cultural show."

And ticket sales went a long way to prove Tambar's words.

All 340 seats in the Agassiz Theatre were full all four nights of the production, and most had sold out ahead of time.

According to Tambar, this is the first year in the show's history that tickets sold out prior to curtain each night.

And from the exuberant reaction of many audience members, it looks as though next year's show may be sold out in advance as well.

Tomohiro Hamakawa '02 caught the Friday night show and says he will be in the audience again for the 11th Ghungroo production.

"I thought the traditional dances were really good and the skits were unexpected but pretty funny," he explains. "It was really great how there was synthesis of lots of cultures." Celebrating: South Asian Style

An eclectic mix of song, dance, poetry and humor, the show presented a broad range of entertainment styles from a variety of regions of South Asia.

On any given night, Vasan estimates that about 65 to 70 percent of the acts were performed while all of the acts were included in the closing performance. Each show began with a traditional dance solo, performed by a different dancer each time.

At the beginning of Saturday's matinee, for example, Sharada Modur, a student at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, performed "Shiva Anjali and Alarripu," an invocation dance.

Shanthi K. Naidu '02, who says she has been dancing the South Indian Bharata Natyam for 15 years, opened the show Friday.