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Continuing our collegiate dance team series, we move towards Ohio State University – OSU Nashaa’s co-ed Bollywood fusion dance team!
Nashaa has been around since 2010 and in the last three years they have received tremendous recognition for their talent. This past April at Aag Ki Raat, held at the University of South Carolina, Nashaa placed third place and has placed at many on-campus competitions such as variety shows. They have also been awarded at Bollywood Dance Canada for best dance mix this past February!
Check their 3rd Place win performance at Aag Ki Raat on April 4, 2015!
The team of nineteen incredible dancers practice four-days a week between six and ten hours a week. The best thing about Nashaa is the diversity, not everyone on the team is South Asian, and they have opened the dance floor for everyone. Nashaa being a Bollywood fusion dance team, they incorporate all types of dance forms such as, Classical, Modern, Hip-hop, Bhangra and of course, traditional Bollywood. Some of the dancers on the team are classically trained or trained in other dance styles. At the same time, not every member on the team is trained, and has found their passion for dance through the dance team itself.
One of the greatest obstacles the team faces when preparing for competition season is raising money for the team to travel and hotel expenses. They typically hold fundraising events months in advance to prepare for any large expenditure. Another small hindrance they face is when competing, judges sometimes do not like the kind of song choices they choose.
When Nashaa is looking for new members to join the team, they don’t look for perfection but a solid foundation from the dancer. They also see if the dancer can pick up choreography in a timely matter and are able to adapt to multiple dance styles. Diversity again is a key factor when recruiting new members; it’s a very important facet to the team!
I asked one of the captains of the team, Akshay Krishnamani what Nashaa’s strategy is to embrace the South Asian culture with the Western culture and he said,
We have one goal to use many types of styles and cultures in our performances; it keeps the routine very interesting. Fusing all types of cultures is cool and what’s really awesome is when we use a Western song and incorporate South Asian dance styles or vice versa.
OSU Nashaa believes in valuing all levels of dancers and is open to having everyone be together as a family! They all believe that when you go to college, everyone should look into joining some kind of group, like a dance team, it’s one of the best decisions the members of Nashaa has ever made!
Don’t forget to Follow OSU Nashaa on these Social Sites:
https://www.facebook.com/NCSUNazaare
https://twitter.com/OSUNashaaOsuNashaa
https://instagram.com/osunashaa/
