Contributed by Smirthi Selvaraj
Since then-student Neelam Patel founded Nazaare, NC State’s Bollywood Fusion Dance team, in 2012, the group has performed and competed across the nation. Nazaare’s choreography blends contemporary with traditional.
“There was an Indian dance team on campus before, but it didn’t fuse difference styles and never competed,” said Smirthi Selvaraj, co-captain and senior studing human biology.
Mixing traditional Indian music with hip-hop might seem like an unlikely combination, but not for Nazaare.
“We have a DJ who makes the mixes for us every year,” Selvaraj said. “We have about 10 songs blended, so it flows really well. The music complements the unique mix of the dances.”
According to Selvaraj, Nazaare fuses dance styles such as bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance, and bhangra (folk) with jazz, hip-hop, ballet and more. Generally not mixed together, the group aims for the dances to blend seamlessly so it maintains both tradition and freshness. The dancers perform the routines wearing vibrant costumes that are ordered from a tailor in an Indian village. The costumes pay homage to the rich heritage and add to the visual aspect of the performance. The craftsmanship of the costumes distinguishes Nazaare from teams who choose mass-produced attire.
“They’re all stitched by hand. They’re more expensive, but we’re always complimented on our costumes,” Selvaraj said. “They set us apart and allow us to touch on that traditional aspect.”
Selvaraj co-captains the team with Vijay Sadanani, a senior studying economics.
“There’s a group of 30 of us, and we’re inseparable,” Selvaraj said. “We do everything together. Dancing at practice is so much fun because we bond as a family.”
Similar to Selvaraj, Reema Thakkar, treasurer and junior studying secondary mathematics education and statistics, has danced her whole life.
She started dancing at age 5 and has competed nationally before. The excitement of competing never faded. Thakkar said the feeling of traveling and competing with other dancers nationally is priceless.
Selvaraj also said there’s no other feeling like dancing on stage. The performances are energetic and last about seven minutes. The team practices three times a week, but when a competition is near, more preparation is required.
On April 9, Nazaare will be competing for nationals in Cleveland.
Last November, the team placed first in Texas, which qualified it for nationals. There are smaller competitions, but since the team won one of the eight major competitions, Nazaare has been invited to Bollywood America.
The team is excited for the upcoming semester, when it will also be competing in Chapel Hill, Philadelphia and Atlanta.
In 2012, Nazaare competed at the Manhattan Project Dance Competition 4.0 against the top 10 teams on the East Coast, where it won third place. Nazaare won first place at the annual Aaj Ka Dhamaka competition in Chapel Hill in 2013.
“I love traveling because I get to build relationships with people all over the country who do the same thing that I love,” Selvaraj said.
In addition to holding auditions at the beginning of each semester, Nazaare also holds auditions to see who will compete, as competitions only allow 20 – 22 people on stage.
Although Selvaraj and Thakkar have been trained, dancing experience isn’t required when auditioning for Nazaare.
“It’s all about how you adapt to the styles,” Selvaraj said. “As long as you have the rhythm and beat, you’re fine. Numerous people on our team have joined without prior experience.”
Thakkar said the relationships she’s built through the team are irreplaceable.
“I’ve made friendships and relationships through these competitions, and it’s great having such a supportive, competitive dance circuit,” Thakkar said. “I have grown more from my teammates and captains in the past three years than I ever did prior to college.”
In addition to competing nationally, Nazaare performs on campus and for birthdays, weddings and graduations.
On Wednesday, FreshBerry will donate 15 percent of the purchase to Nazaare when customers mention the group.