"Something I hear from a lot of people is that at Harvard, you expect people to be working all the time," she adds. "But this show was just really impressive and very professional."

Ahmed says she thinks the show reflected the devotion of its participants not only in terms of time but also in respect for culture.

"It's good for parents to see their kids doing this kind of thing," she says. "It's extremely difficult to be brought up in this culture and maintain some of that tradition, and everyone here is busy with studies, and the fact that students have been able to uphold this is incredible."

Ahmed says that, for her, the sudden calm after weeks and weeks of preparation has left her a little unsettled.

"I think all of us are going through withdrawal," she says. "It's so weird waking up and not having to go to all these rehearsals."

Most cast members agreed to participate in the show without any classical training in either dance or singing instead, they came in with a willingness to learn.

Those with backgrounds in dance or song taught the others, and learning the various styles of performance was an enormous task, show organizers say.

"Some freshmen may not have ever done classical dances before," Vasan says "and some of the dances are regional, so one group of South Asians would have done that, but we wanted to include everyone."

"We really had to teach each other," Naidu adds. "I was so surprised to see that there's so much talent here at Harvard, from lights to sounds to actual dancing. I was really impressed with everyone in the cast."

By opening night, members of the cast and crew alike had learned about many different styles of performance. All that was left was to give the audience the kind of spirited experience the show's participants say they had.

"Above everything, I hope the audience got a sense of what South Asia is like," Naidu says. "It's such a diverse culture, and to see all the parts--from the traditional, to the modern, to the Fusion dance, which combined salsa and classical and pop and freestyle--was incredible."