The rich culture and shared heritage of people of South Asian descent can be seen through elaborate and stunning dances. Dances tell a story as styles evolve and become more modern. It can be amazing to watch fusion dancing.
Nole Nandana is a new competitive Desi dance fusion team that’s started at FSU and will begin performing later this semester. Whether you love to watch others dance or you’d like to dance yourself, Nandana will light up the cultural dance scene for you at FSU.
Inspired by a strong love of Bollywood movies throughout her life, captain and founder Saanvi Lalwani started the team this semester due to the lack of a competitive Desi group on campus. She had wanted to join a competitive team during her freshman year, yet found that there wasn’t an active one on campus. She then took it into her own hands to form a team that has since recruited many other students who are passionate about Desi dance.
“Being in a Predominately White Institution, I felt that it was important to have a space for creativity and Desi culture to meet,” Lalwani said.
Nandana stays true to its claim of being a fusion dance team. The group will combine aspects from bhangra, Bollywood, and classical dance styles, along with others. Bhangra is a style of dance from the Punjabi region which is extremely high-energy and lively. Their performances will maintain vibrancy as the group performs the intense footwork and intrinsic hand movements that make Desi dance so complex and mesmerizing to watch.
“Mixing components of dance techniques and styles from across South Asia allows us to explore and create the right choreography for the talents of the team,” Lalwani said.
Since the group has just started, they’re in the stage of finding their strengths. The goal is to become a Desi Dance Network (DDN) team. DDN sponsors and hosts different events, such as competitions for South Asian teams and performers. The nature of the other teams’ skills on DDN can be extremely high stakes and competitive.
“There can be a lot of pressure since teams from universities such as the University of North Carolina and Georgia Tech have strong teams that have been around longer,” Lalwani said.
Stay tuned for their first performance, which will be on March 23 at FSU’s Holi celebration hosted by the South Asian Student Association. Holi is open to everyone and completely free. It’s a joyous celebration of colors where traditionally people dance throughout town and throw dyes at each other. It’s an event worth attending, especially if you’re not familiar with it! The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Langford Green.
“Holi this year is going to be very hype. I’m so excited that our first performance is going to be during such a large event,” Lalwani said.
It can be challenging to appreciate your roots when you’re in a completely new environment. If you’re interested in competitive Desi dance and think Nole Nandana might be the right team for you, reach out to them through direct messages on Instagram. Nandana is open to everyone regardless of ethnic background, gender, or dance experience.
Although dance isn’t something that I’m gifted in, I think it’s so awesome and important that there’s a team that can serve as an outlet for other Desi students to get together and share their talents and cultural identity. I definitely will be cheering them on from the sidelines this semester!
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