Dola Re Dandiya, located at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is a collegiate dance competition primarily focused with the Raas and Bhangra circuits. It was founded in early 2017 by Beyla Patel, Shaily Aghera, and Kinjal Patel. These three founders were members of Tar Heel Raas and came up with the concept after placing at their first national bid competition. They believed it was time to bring some fun to the area by showing their community why they love dance. They also hoped that the competition would help spread their Gujarati culture with the rest of Chapel Hill. This year, the competition has evolved to incorporate the Punjabi culture as well and the board of Dola Re Dandiya is very excited. The competition takes place on February 9, 2019 at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Memorial Hall.
Blacksburg Ki Badmaashi (BKB) is an intercollegiate dance competition that focuses on three Indian dance categories: Bhangra, Fusion, and Raas. In April 2018, members of VT Bhangra, VT Junoon, and VT Dhamaal had a mutual desire to spread South Asian culture and their passion for dance while bringing together the three dance styles. The BKB Executive Board wants to foster a fun and friendly environment where teams can come showcase their hard work and love for dance, while providing an exciting competition. The competition is set to take place on February 23, 2019 in Burruss Hall at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
~Be Part of the Trilogy~
Roarin' Raas, a co-ed dance team from the University of Houston, was established in 2011 by Rakesh Patel and a few others. Rakesh Patel, a Gujarati, was very fond of the culture and the dance forms of Raas and Garba. After seeing other teams, such as Dirty South Dandiya and UMBC Raascals, he had a vision of creating a nationally competing Raas/Garba dance team from the University of Houston.
UMBC Raascals, based at the University of Maryland- Baltimore County, was established in 2004. With several nights of hard work, UMBC Raascals became a well known team throughout the Garba/Raas community and their perseverance led them to a second place win at the prestigious Raas Revolution in 2014. This team continues to amaze the dance community so keep your eyes open for more brilliant performances.
George Washington University is one of the most established colleges in the DMV area and is home to one of the oldest standing Raas teams, GW Raas. GW Raas was founded in 2001, by a group of passionate students who wanted to share the Gujarati culture through raas-garba. With their dedication and uniqueness, they are taking over the Raas circuit by storm.
