Defining Movement (defMo) Showcase - April 13th, 2013
Everyone remembers their first dance in Page Auditorium. For the seniors, Awaaz 2009 was the first time they took the stage in Freshman Dance. Four years later, taking the stage in front of 1,232 people for the final time, DefMo Showcase was a special one. Rocking the team’s new vardiyaan for the first time on campus, performing a shortened 5 minute set with all out energy, and performing in front of tons of alumni and friends, Dhamaka was lights out. As members of Defining Movement, this guest act was even more fun for seniors Ashvin Kapur and Sarah McCaffery and junior Rebecca Pham, showcasing their talent to not only the audience, but to their DefMo teammates as well. Dhamaka is always extremely grateful to be invited to perform as a guest act at DefMo Showcase, and as always, we kept the crowd pumped and on their feet! Check out our video in stunning HD (thanks to DSB) here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmO10TA1whc&list=PLNxqB7I9iGR_67SnrWHn1cvmqw2RojG-3
USC Aag Ki Raat - March 30th, 2013
On a highly competitive team striving for excellence and pushing through rigorous practices to maximize potential, there are few opportunities to take a break, and dance purely for the love of dance. This semester was an incredibly busy one for our team. Only one week after traveling across the country for Sin City Bhangra, we decided to compete at the familiar Aag Ki Raat competition at the University of South Carolina. While we only had seven dancers who were available to compete, we decided to compete anyways, putting together a modified set to highlight our abbreviated lineup. Making the trip to South Carolina is always a blast, but spending time with some of our best friends on Duke DBS Raas was an added benefit to make the weekend incredible. The seven dancers we did compete with rocked the stage, and had an absolutely amazing time doing so.
Sin City Bhangra - March 23rd, 2013
Las Vegas. Honestly, the description for Dhamaka’s experience at this competition could be written in just those two words. We were extremely excited to be selected to compete in Sin City Bhangra 2013 and we worked incredibly hard to put together our set for the competition. While there were many hiccups along the way, somehow we had outfits to dance with and an incredible lineup to put on stage. The team pushed through the physical constraints of dry desert air and long jetlag packed flights to put on our most incredible performance yet. The last competition for many of the seniors and the excitement of our brand new vardiyaan got us hyped and carried us through the dance. Furthermore, to make a trip out of it, most of our dancers took the Friday-Monday route and spent some time finding out why they call it Sin City for themselves. All in all, this was a weekend to remember for each of us. We thank the gracious support of the Office of the Provost to help fund our trip as well. Watch us rip up a Vegas stage here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEtzzbyM2DA.
Bhangra Sutra - February 17th, 2013
The Duke-UNC rivalry is played out on the national stage several times a year. From Cameron Indoor to the Dean Smith Center, Tobacco Road is seemingly in constant competition. This semester, Dhamaka and UNC Bhangra Elite tore down the barriers of competition and instead collaborated to make both campuses better. The UNC and Duke captains teamed up to apply for the Kenan-Biddle Partnership, a grant given to collaborative efforts between the two universities to promote intellectual and cultural stimulation on both campuses. Thus, this semester we practiced with UNC to put together a joint performance at Bhangra Sutra 2013. Seeing new faces in the room at practice and learning the variances in our styles not only was an incredibly fun experience, but helped the team members grow individually as dancers. We had a great time dancing with B.E. at Sutra and we look forward to the continued collaboration throughout the remainder of the 2013 calendar year! Check out the collab performance here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6aW9VLHM7A&feature=youtu.be.
Laasya Guest Act - February 9th, 2013
Starting off the second semester at the beginning of February is always an interesting task. Getting a new set prepared and ready to perform kept us on our toes from the moment we returned from Winter break. Performing for Laasya 2013 was a particularly special start to the semester for some of us. Laasya was the first dance competition hosted by Duke, something the seniors had been working towards for years. Not only was it an incredible show of classical dance talent, but it was also a great way to give Dhamaka exposure to students from several different universities. It was an honor to perform as a guest act in front of the other teams. Even outside of the 8 minute set, Dhamaka had an integral role in the competition’s success, as nearly every member of the team served as a liaison for the teams, and Ashvin and Gargi co-chaired the competition (both Dhamakans). Laasya 2013 was a great success thanks in large part to Dhamaka’s on and off stage support.