Eight classical Indian dance teams took to the Hoff Theater on Saturday, decorating the stage with bright costumes of crimson, gold and blue as they competed in the nation’s only intercollegiate competition of its kind.
The competition, known as Laasya, was first created by Boston University and MIT last February to increase awareness of the tradition of classical Indian dance. In that competition, this university’s team, Moksha, won more than just first place and bragging rights — it became this year’s host university, bringing together a diverse crowd of students, alumni, parents and visitors who gathered to watch what student organizers called a crossroads of tradition and innovation.
In 2007, Moksha — which means “liberation” in Sanskrit — became the university’s first student-run classical Indian dance team. Led by senior public and community health major Digna Kakkanattu, the team consists of nine university students who performed two pieces at Saturday’s competition.
All of Moksha’s members, such as junior neurobiology and physiology major Divya Raghavachari, have been studying various types of classical dance from a young age.
“Every single one of us have been dancing since we were at least five,” she said, noting the team practices six to eight hours a week. “It’s like they’re my second family, honestly. We’re coming from the same place. We’re all dancers, and we all come from the same kind of culture.”
Indian dance traditionally seeks to tell a story through performances. Teams from across the nation — including the University of North Carolina, Johns Hopkins University and Rutgers University — portrayed an array of themes Saturday through their routines, ranging from the rebirth of Ganesha to The Beauty and the Beast.
Although this form of art is not well known to many university students, Raghavachari said the theater was nearly packed with about 400 attendees, and some said this was their first exposure to Indian culture through dance.
“This was my first experience watching an [Indian classical dance] competition, so I didn’t know what to expect,” junior aerospace engineering major Pratik Saripalli said. “I thought it was pretty interesting how each team’s [choreography] told a story.”
Kakkanattu said the event was a powerful way to introduce newcomers — and especially college students — to the style of dance often considered a dying cultural tradition.
“It’s kind of lost, and the public has lost interest in it,” she said. “It was amazing to see the support and appreciation for an art that’s lost its touch with the rest of the world.”
Teams from Boston University and MIT collaborated to create Laasya because classical Indian dance teams often found it difficult to learn, share and develop their art form. The competition was created in the hopes that it would serve as an open forum for these teams, students said.
Kakkanattu said winning last year’s competition was icing on the cake for Moksha, who attended the event to raise awareness about classical Indian dance.
“We had never had the opportunity to compete in a competition,” she said. “It was the first of its kind so it had this historic feeling to it because we knew it was only going to get bigger.”
As this year’s host team, Moksha did not compete, but the group did showcase two dances.
The University of Pittsburgh won first place and, in continuation of the Laasya tradition, will host next year’s competition.
Raghavachari said the team has several more competitions throughout the rest of the semester but has already set its sights on winning next year’s Laasya.
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