Music, dances and cultures from around the world will be brought together on Saturday.

The Association of International Students is having “Sounds of the World Dance” at 9 p.m. Saturday in the University Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Samyukta Ghimire, the president for the Association of International Students, said they want to spread traditions that are native to the many countries of the members of the organization.

“Student can learn the culture and everything else about the international students, because you can really distinguish people from Asia, South American and Europe through music; so we really want more people to come to our events, and this is one of the most awaited events for the international students,” Ghimire said.

Ghimire said there will be performances from international students, some American students, as well other performances from range of art forms.

“We have more performances this time than last semester,” Ghimire said.

Ghimire said there will be three singing performances and three dance performances.

“One lady from China will be performing a traditional instrument. I don’t know the name of the instrument, but she played it last semester for our event,” Ghimire said. “People really wanted to hear her more.”

She said Lucas Balaminut, an international student from Brazil, will be performing a Salsa dance.

Ghimire said Ashim Pokharel, Oindrila Paul, and she will be performing a traditional cultural dance.

Twin sisters Joy and Ann Ignalaga will be performing the Wushu dance, a martial arts-type dance.

There will also be a rap performance at the event, Ghirmire said.

Ghirmire said the event is more than a music performance.

“They can listen to music, but they can also learn about culture. People will be wearing traditional outfits, performing traditional dances and cultural songs,” Ghirmire said.

Ghirmire said the event gives students the opportunity to show that they are not as different as they are believed to be.

“We want to show, not only do they listen to their traditional songs, but they are fond of listening to new music, American music, English music and all that,” Ghirmire said. “All students listen to all kinds of music and they are westernized these days.”

Ghirmire said she is looking forward to having a diverse audience.

“We don’t usually have many Americans at our events, either they don’t know about it or about the organizations. They are not familiar with what we do or what we are like,” Ghirmire said.

Ghimire said “Sounds of the World” is something everyone can learn from.

“It is not just for international students,” Ghimire said. “We encourage other students to join us; especially American students, so that they can get the feel of international music.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.