Raas Royalty showcases cultural dance

Half the seats in the IU Auditorium Saturday night were filled by dance teams donning multi-colored sequined costumes, scarves and golden bracelets.

Competitors in the Raas Royalty Competition waited for their turn to perform.

The fifth-annual collegiate dance competition featured a West Indian dance style called garba raas. Admission was free, as the goal of the competition was to spread cultural awareness of Indian culture nationwide.

“Raas is a form of dance style that requires spirit, hard work and sensational choreography,” said Harini Gurram, director of the Raas Royalty roundtable. “It is truly an honor for IU to sponsor this event, so we may be able to reveal our cultural influence to students unaware of it, to create a memorable experience for all.”

The Raas Royalty roundtable is a student-run organization dedicated to spreading the joy of raas.

Eight teams from across the nation traveled to Bloomington to compete against one another.

The teams included the IU HoosierRaas, Carnegie Mellon, Emory University, University of Florida, Houston University, Stanford, University of Illinois, University of Pittsburgh and Rochester University.

Gurram emceed the event and introduced each team as passionate male and female students who, in attempts to outshine each other, put all their strength into five-minute performances.

Each performance was highly energetic and fast-paced with a great deal of jumping and partnered steps.

Each team had a specific theme to its dance routine.

Some chose to include American culture in themes, such as school pride, the beach and fashion.

The three winning teams were “SaRaas” from Emory, “PantheRaas” from Pittsburgh and Houston’s “Roarin’ Raas”.

IU’s acapella group “Another Round,” Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and student dance company “InMotion” also performed.

The event was sponsored by IU, Hutton Honors College, IU Student Association, the Dhar India Studies Program, Kappa Alpha Psi, the Commission on Multicultural Understanding and IU’s Department of International Studies.

Gurram said all donations to Raas Royalty 2014 will go to the organization to recruit other individuals around the world.

IU student David Trask said he enjoyed learning about a new style of dance through the performance.

“It was a fascinating dance that transmits Indian culture wrapped up with Indiana’s modern life,” Trask said. “After watching all of these highly energetic performances, I felt like trying YouTube-ing some tutorials and trying out these traditional dance routines myself.”