Rachel Seymour

Dancing with five wine bottles on your head to Paraguayan polka music takes practice. Maria Ullon, Asuncion, Paraguay, graduate student, spent a week practicing before she performed the Balle de las botellas, or the dance of the bottles, Friday night for the Festival of Nations.

Dressed in her blue Pollerón, a ruffled blue skirt, Ullon, danced in front of more than 100 people at the Kansas Ballroom in the Kansas Union.

The dance is a traditional Paraguyan dance that can take years to master. Ullon has been performing the dance since she was 15.

The dance ended the International Students Association and International Student Scholars Services’ 53rd annual festival.

The festival, which featured performances from nine different countries, gave KU students an opportunity to travel the globe from inside the Kansas Union.

Japanese students started the festival with the thunderous sound of Taiko drums. From there students were moved from country to country through the festival’s performances, getting a small taste of each country’s rich culture.

Justina Patterson, Pittsburg sophomore, said it was a great opportunity to experience different cultures. As a Latin American studies major, she was particularly interested in the performances from Bolivia, Peru and Paraguay.

The performers themselves not only educated the audience about their customs but also learned about other countries’ practices.

Maneesha Arashanapalli, graduate student from Andhra Pradesh, India, said she learned about Bolivian culture, which was a culture she had never experienced before.

Arashanapalli and 22 other students from India performed a song, each singing in the different languages native to the 25 states of India. Their performance showed how much variety of culture can be found even in one country.

While there were many different countries represented, there was one major country that lacked in attendance.

Few American students took part in the festival .

The lack of attendance from domestic students is a problem ISA has always dealt with, Juan Araoz, ISA president, said.

The La Paz, Bolivia, senior said most American students think they have to be from another country in order to participate in international activities, this is not true. American students are also welcome to join the international group.

Festival of Nations followed the World Expo, which took place earlier that day.

Featured at the expo was informational booths for more than 60 countries.

Both events had record attendance, Araoz said.