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Team Spotlight
CMU Raasta, based at Carnegie Mellon University, was established in November 2011, by four freshmen who individually dreamed of starting a raas team before attending CMU. They all met during orientation week and decided to make it happen. After countless meetings with other student organizations, these freshmen finally created a very unique and talented team.
This past season, the most prestigious Bollywood-Fusion Competition, Bollywood America, was held in Cleveland, Ohio. Every year, teams from across the nation battle it out onstage to win the title of National Champions. Northwestern University Anubhav proved that their combination of hard-work and talent was lethal and became this year’s victors. Anubhav was established in 2008, by a couple members of Northwestern's Raas team and a graduate student who was a former member of Stanford Dil Se. These dancers had attended Best of the Best, in Chicago, the year before, saw a few of the HFD teams competing, and were inspired to create a new team at Northwestern.
The D.C. area is known to all as the Nation’s Capital and Home of the President, but it is also recognized as one of the main attractions for music, dance, and culture. An established competition, which encompasses all of these passions, is non-other than Bhangra Blowout. This prestigious event is held every year and teams from all across the nation battle it out to be named “National Champions.” This year, CMU Bhangra was awarded this esteemed title and returned to their University, in Pittsburgh, as victors. CMU Bhangra, based at Carnegie Mellon, was established in 2006 and was originally created as a dance organization at the University. Their innovation and skills have proven to be unstoppable this past season.
The Men Of Dance (MOD) Project is an independent team, based in Chicago, where all but a few of their members are from UIC. Several of the dancers were on various teams prior to joining The MOD Project. Some of these teams included Chicago Dhamaal (co-ed fusion), UIC Nazaara (co-ed bollywood), UIC Dangeraas, and Ministry of Bhangra. During the 2013-2014 season, some of the dancers, from these various teams, decided to get together and put on an all guys desi fusion performance at the annual India Night Show at UIC. What originally began as a fun showcase idea, in which they jokingly called their act "The Ministry Of Dhazaara," or MOD with a different meaning, had amazing feedback. The audience went wild and said it was very entertaining to watch. Combined, they all loved breaking out of their creative comfort zones and decided to ban together to officially compete in the circuit. They just finished their second competitive year, with a bang, by placing second at Bollywood America (or Nationals) and also receiving an award for the Best All Male Team of the Year.
GMU Bhangra was established in 2007 by a group of Punjabi-Indian students. Their goal was to spread the Punjabi culture, within their college and community, through traditional folk dance. This year, they have gone above and beyond expectations and placed second at the most prestigious collegiate competition in the nation, Bhangra Blowout 23. Their technique, creativity, and boldness have put them on the map and now they are a force to be reckoned with!
