Entering its 11th year, Nazaare creates a space for students to express themselves through dance by combining traditional South Asian dance forms with Western styles.

“Nazaare is a Bollywood fusion dance team run by students at NC State,” said Nisha Mistry, a fourth-year studying polymer and color chemistry and co-captain of the team. “It was founded on the basis of being able to show our culture, our training, our love for music, especially Bollywood and South Asian music, and just sticking to our roots.”

The Nazaare team is a diverse group of dancers who have been trained in different dance styles, including classical, Bollywood, Bharatanatyam, Bhangra, hip-hop and contemporary. The team is comprised of about 30 dancers.

 “The reason why we’re called a Bollywood fusion circuit is because we can do any style,” Mistry said. “There’s teams that do Indian classical, there’s teams that do Bhangra, but I feel like we’re one of the only teams that try and hit every style. … We’re teaching and we’re learning, so we try bouncing off each other’s energies, bouncing off each other’s dance styles.”

The team is made up of three captains, several junior captains and three boards for production, marketing and social media.

“Being a co-captain, you have to understand that everyone learns in a different way,” said Arya Gor, a fourth-year studying business finance and co-captain of the team. “The team really responds to positivity and respect. The more the team respects you and the more you respect them, the better you can work together.”

The members of Nazaare represent NC State at both on-campus and off-campus events, often traveling to other states to compete against collegiate teams from all over the country. The team applies to competitions through Desi Dance Network, which hosts and sponsors national dance events.

“Every year we come up with an entire set that we like to perform at different competitions, and each competition helps us eventually go on toward the national level competition called Legends,” said Aathira Balu, a fourth-year studying business administration and co-captain of the team.  

The team practices three times a week for two to four hours, and then holds everyday practices for two to four hours in the week leading up to a competition. 

“During practices, we teach the choreography first and then go through formations before cleaning them up,” Gor said. “We have conditioning days to focus on technique and form, and we spend time working on classical styles, since they’re foundation-based. A lot of technique goes into that.”

Teams hoping to perform at Legends apply by submitting audition videos. If they are accepted, they have the opportunity to compete against other national South Asian dance teams in their annual competition in a select city in the United States.

Balu said the team travels mostly on the East Coast, but they’ve traveled as far as California and Chicago.   

“Everyone that comes to these competitions are from different universities all around the country,” said Maya Rana, a third-year studying biomedical engineering and social media chair of Nazaare. “You meet a bunch of people from different teams, so you get a ton of connections from all these different states. I know a bunch of people from Houston, Atlanta and St. Louis now. One of our liaisons was from Chapel Hill, and I still talk to her every time I go back.”

Rana said Nazaare provides a space for students and dancers who identify with the South Asian community to cultivate new relationships and foster a sense of community on campus.

“Being a part of the Indian community here at [NC State] is a little hard in the sense that there is such a small community in comparison to other races on campus,” Rana said. “Nazaare has kept me grounded to my traditional roots, and allows me to enjoy my culture with others that also understand it.” 

According to Balu, Nazaare has given the team members representation at NC State through the different dance styles they use, because they are able to spread their culture to others and reach diverse audiences through art.

“It’s feeling at home without actually being home,” Rana said. “I found a new sense of community through this team.”

To learn more about Nazaare, head to theirGet Involved page at getinvolved.ncsu.edu/organization/nazaare or follow the team on Instagram@ncsu_nazaare.