Asha Pantula wore a radiant orange Sari with pants as she danced onstage Saturday in an auditorium at the Benton County Historical Museum in Philomath.

Metallic bells had been tied to Pantulas ankles and jingled each time her feet hit the ground. Jewels adorned the 16-year-olds face as she performed an Indian classical dance called Bharathanatiyam.

Pantula, who is a student at the NATYA Dance Academy, was one of many performers at the museums second annual Family Day. This years theme, tied to the museums current exhibition, was "Around the World from 80 Countries." People from more than 10 local organizations performed cultural dances and played musical instruments.Hundreds of people participated in the festivities.

Outside the museum, a group of women wearing red and yellow skirts with ruffled floraltops danced to the banda style of music from the Mexican state of Sinaloa. The dancers, from the Ballet Folklorico Alma Latina of Corvallis, held their flowing skirts with their fingertips and flapped them as they danced.

In front of the women, Antonio Huerta, a Mexican charro, or cowboy, performed rope tricks. He swung a ranching rope around his body and then jumped through it, eliciting applause from the audience.

Terri Thomas, the museums membership and events coordinator, said she hopes the performances, and many others held that day, helped museum visitors connect the artifacts they saw in the museum to their local community.

How is what we exhibit here in the museum relevant to our county and culture today? Thomas said. It was to show that these cultures are here and contributing to our daily lives in a really rich way.

She hopes the days activities deepened community members engagement with one another.

Some of the performers were children and Thomas said she wanted children who were visiting the museum to see their peers demonstrating their culture and being proud of it.

One of the performing groups was Aloha Hula Northwest, which demonstrated the traditional hula dance and offered lessons on how to dance the hula. The International Ambassadors of Dance performed traditional folk dances from different parts of the world and encouraged the audience to learn the steps.

Children from the 4-H Folklorico Mexicana also performed traditional dance, as did the East Dream Chinese Dance Corporation. A Flamenco guitarist from the Corvallis guitar society also performed. The Corvallis Chinese School provided traditional tea for visitors to taste.

Students from the Corvallis Waldorf School played Japanese taiko drums.

Its really nice to be able to share this with the community, said Chris Highfield, a teacher at the school who was directing the students during the performance. The students are really passionate about it.

The eight students who performed ranged in grade level from fifth through ninth. The kids stood two to a drum and used bachi sticks to create booming rhythmic beats.

Taiko in general, its such a powerful style of music, said 14-year-old Malia Detar Chung. It makes you feel really grounded, like youre part of the ground and the beat. Its an amazing opportunity to get to play and share it with people.

The museum also offered many hands-on activities for kids to do. The Corvallis Multicultural Literacy Center brought eating utensils from around the world for kids to try using. They also provided recycled materials for children to use to make their own musical instrument.

The day also included a labyrinth walk on a floor cloth and kids were invited to draw their own labyrinths. The Chintimini Spinners taught children to do drop spindle spinning.

Representatives from the University of Oregon Natural and Cultural History Museum brought Native American basketry and taught kids to do basket weaving.

I hope (visitors) saw things and learned things about the communities and organizations in Benton County that they didnt know before, Thomas said.

Families were also encouraged to peruse the museums exhibition, which features almost 200 artifacts from all over the globe, including textiles, pottery, clothing, tools and more. The artifacts were formerly part of the Horner Museum collection at Oregon State University, Thomas said.

Much of the Horner collection is in storage in a building behind the museum. Officials hope to display more of it when their downtown Corvallis museum opens, perhaps by the end of next year.

Excerpt from:

Families travel the world at the Benton County Historical Museum - Corvallis Gazette Times