A lecture classroom in Bentley Hall was scarce of students and laptops on Friday night. Instead, music filled the room as a group of about 10 people began practicing steps to a Bollywood dance.
Members of the Indian Students Association started a Bollywood Dance Club during Spring Semester that is open to everyone, including professors. The group is comprised of 15 to 20 people, with choreography taught by Bhakti Shah, vice president of the International Student Union and a graduate student studying education administration.
Teaching the group members is not the hard part; choreographing is more challenging, Shah said.
“Dancing is not difficult,” Shah said. “Some people say, ‘Oh I have two left feet.’ Well, you still have two feet, right?”
Regional, traditional dancing from different areas of India requires a lot of training and practice, so the club sticks to Bollywood dancing because it’s more fun and allows non-dancers to participate, Shah said.
“You have to see to it that you teach the steps in such a way that the non-dancers don’t feel left out,” Shah said.
Anurag Raghuvanshi, cultural director of the Indian Students Association and a graduate student studying electrical engineering avionics, presented the idea for the club to the association.
“I saw how many people from other cultures were interested in Bollywood dance so that’s why I thought of starting it this semester,” Raghuvanshi said.
The group usually meets biweekly but is meeting every Friday this month, Raghuvanshi said.
For Audrey Bonfig, a graduate student studying journalism, the club offers a place to come after a long week.
“It’s just a really good stress reliever after I’ve been doing studying and reading and teaching throughout the week,” Bonfig said.
Bonfig said she didn’t find coming to a dance club with no Bollywood training intimidating.
“I was with one of my good friends and we were both new to it, which made it less nerve-wracking,” Bonfig said.
The group has also bonded during the course of the semester, Bonfig said.
“We’ve gotten together at each other’s houses and had Henna parties and we’ve eaten Indian food,” Bonfig said. “It’s awesome and it’s a great group of people.”
The club performed at Holi, the spring festival of colors, and is also planning on performing at the International Student Union’s talent show.
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