For the first time since its inception, the JHU Raas team will be participating in Raas Chaos, an intercollegiate dance competition held at George Washington University. The competition, held this Saturday at 7 p.m., features Raas teams from eight schools: GW, Columbia, University of Michigan, Penn State, Case Western Reserve, UMD College Park and Tufts.
Dandia Raas is a fertility dance that originates from the Indian state of Gujarat. It is traditionally performed during the autumn holiday of Navaratri (which means "nine nights" in both Gujarati and Hindi) is originally an agricultural holiday that celebrates nature and creation in the forms of the Hindu goddesses Lakshmi, Saraswati and Durga. Today, nine nights are devoted to celebrating the goddesses in their respective forms of prosperity, wisdom, and power, through a flurry of dance and music.
The folk dance is performed by both men and women who hold two short sticks (Dandias), which they hit against their partners' sticks against the floor and in mid-air. Energetic and playful, Dandia Raas has hints of romance, as it was the dance that the Hindu God Krishna would dance with the Gopis (milk-maidens) of his village, as told in the mythological epic, the Mahabharata.
Dandia Raas performed with traditional Gujarati folk music and usually in conjunction with Garba, a whirling twirling dance in a circular formation. It involves clapping to a rapidly increasing beat, accompanied by a host of live musicians playing a dholak, a barrel-shaped, two-sided drum, a tabla, the most common traditional Indian drum, the harmonium, an accordion-like squeeze box and singing in Gujarati folk style. During the Navaratri celebrations in India, Raas dancers crowd public squares and streets and the festivities last until early morning. In America, communities with large Indian populations (such as Edison, NJ) rent out large venues for Navratri and many larger universities hold Navratri events that are for the unique purpose dancing Garba or Dandia. At Hopkins, both Dandia and Garba Raas are danced as a part of Diwali Dhamaaka.
Raas Chaos was started three years ago at GW. Currently, mostly East Coast schools enter the competition, although Raas Chaos is looking to expand in coming years. In the past, both GW and Tufts have won first place in the competition.
The Raas teams are judged on a variety of artistic, technical and traditional elements, including creativity, expression, formations, choreography, confidence, authenticity, team spirit and music. This years show will feature Penn Dhamaka, an all-male South-Asian dance troupe from UPenn, as well as Company Soul, a hip-hop and breakdancing team featured on MTV and seen at conferences and concerts in the DC area.
Hopkins' Raas team was founded a few years ago, with the goal of preparing a dance each year for Diwali Dhamaaka. Tryouts for the team are held towards the end of September. This year is the first time the JHU Raas team has entered Raas Chaos. They had to submit a video of their dance to a judging committee, and a couple weeks later, were informed that they had made it into the competition. "It was so exciting," says Raas team member Jona Bandyopadhyay. "Ever since I've been on the team, I've wanted to be a part of Raas Chaos." As the competition draws nearer, the Raas team's practices become longer, sometimes ranging to almost 6 hours a day.
SASH, (South Asian Students Association at Hopkins), bought 70 tickets to the show for Hopkins students, which they offered at a discounted price and was promptly sold out. SASH is also providing transportation to Raas Chaos at a low cost. Raas Chaos will be held Saturday, in GW's Lisner Auditorium. For more info, please visit http://www.raaschaos.com.
