Less than a month after coming together, a student Bollywood dance group has been selected to participate in a national competition in New York City.
The Indian-style dance group, ASU Aag, which means “fire” in Hindi, became a team in September after holding open tryouts. Now they’re preparing to face veteran groups at The Manhattan Project 2.0.
The team of 14 primarily focuses on a modern form of Indian-style dancing known as Bollywood. Four members of the team are dance majors and others have past dance experience.
Bollywood involves “big” and “flashy” movements, but hints of traditional Indian dancing are still visual in the more modernized style, said economics sophomore Rohini Gnanasambanthan, president of Aag.
The dance style is becoming more popular particularly in America because of its attractiveness to the hip-hop culture and also to younger people, she said.
“Bollywood dancing is synchronized and incorporates different forms of expression while requiring a lot of energy,” said Ramya Baratam, computer science junior and Bollywood dancer.
High energy is particularly important for the dancers to maintain because of the need to perform classical Indian dancing, hip-hop and Bollywood for competitive purposes, Gnanasambanthan said.
The dance group is fusing different forms of dance into synchronized routines in preparation for its first competition in New York City on Nov. 20.
Under extreme time constraints, Aag created an audition tape within one 12-hour practice earlier this month in order to be considered for a chance to perform in the competition.
Of 20 entries, only eight were accepted to the competition, including Aag.
The group was shocked by the quickness of the results, hearing back within days, and even more amazed to know they beat the odds, Gnanasambanthan said.
“We were competing against top Bollywood groups from across the country who have been performing together for years,” Gnanasambanthan said. “We had only been a group for a few weeks before putting together the audition tape.”
Currently, the dance group is working to raise funds for the competition and is using different tactics to achieve its goal of raising $7,000.
The group raised $3,000 the first two weeks of fundraising, and most of the funds are being collected from sponsors and community members, Gnanasambanthan said.
“We are trying to get students more involved in our efforts while also spreading awareness about the club,” said accounting freshman Praveen Nanja, a member of the group.
Nanja has taken an active role in the fundraising efforts by speaking in front of his classes and submitting messages to professors to post on class websites.
The joys of coming to practice and associating with a diverse group of people makes devoting a lot of time and effort an easy task, Nanja said.
“I always have to think about doing homework and exams, but it’s good to relate to a group of friends and to see different people have an equally strong passion for dance,” Nanja said.
Although the group has a focus on Indian-style dancing, only half of the group’s members are Indian, Baratam said.
English sophomore Lauren Covey said she has been involved with Bollywood dancing since high school and a trip to Bangalore to perform in an Indian wedding gave her a greater appreciation for the dance style.
“Even though we don't all come from South Asian backgrounds, we all get together and appreciate this awesome dance style,” Covey said.
The best part of being a member of the dance group is the open opportunity to learn about Indian culture as well as learning about others’ cultural backgrounds, Nanja said.
“When you are dancing with others, you no longer recognize differences because everyone is working hard for a similar purpose,” Nanja said. “I want others to join in order to spread the concept of Bollywood dancing and to encourage diversity on campus.”
Reach the reporter at asjohn10@asu.edu
Want to get the latest ASU news in your inbox every day? Sign up for our new e-mail newsletter.
