Virginia School Of Bhangra, also known as VSB, is a relatively new group to the dance community. Unlike most teams that compete in the bhangra circuit, they are not associated with any college or university. Virginia School of Bhangra started off as a summer camp, hosted by GMU Bhangra, called “Bhangra 101.” After seeing a large turnout during the two years it was held, parents wanted a year-round bhangra program for their children. They hoped to see an increase in results, as well as getting connected to the Punjabi culture. With this growing interest, five instructors from Bhangra 101 decided to create Virginia School of Bhangra.
Natya at Berkeley, from UC Berkeley, was established in the Spring of 2013 by Lalli Venkat, Suhasini Ramakrishna, and Manisha Eerabathini. The team was founded by holding auditions to recruit the original nine team members. Together, they performed for the first time at Cal’s Culture Show and the rest was history!
Rutgers University’s incredible fusion dance team, Ehsaas, was co-founded by Suchi Gulati and Chandni Patel towards the end of Spring 2009. They started performing on campus the following fall and finally started competing on the collegiate level in 2011. The reasons why they are so successful are because of their dedication and their ability to problem solve given any issue.
Cal Bhangra, established in 2009, was formed to promote awareness of the Punjabi culture at the University of California, Berkeley. They compete year-round in hopes of spreading Cal pride to all areas of the United States and aim to teach all audiences the art of Bhangra, so their passion can spread and their legacy can carry on.
On January 23, 2016, eight Bollywood fusion and eight Bhangra dance teams will be meeting in Columbus, OH to compete in the first Desi Dance Network competition of 2016! Buckeye Mela provides an opportunity for the best South Asian dance teams to compete for a cash prize. Srujan aims to forge new ties among universities and South Asian communities while raising money charity.
As a Bollywood America Automatic Bid Competition, the Bollywood fusion winner of this competition will receive a bid to compete at the national championship competition-- Bollywood America on April 9th in Cleveland. Although there are six other Bollywood America auto-bid competitions, Buckeye Mela separates itself from the others by having a line up comprised of both Bhangra and Bollywood fusion teams. Disguised as two separate competitions in one night, the audience should be expecting a diverse showcase of styles.
