It took hundreds of hours of rigorous physical training, over $13,000 in set and costume costs and a sense of determination that seldom strayed – all for only 10 minutes of stage time.
But for the Carleton South Asian Alliance (SAA) Dance Team who placed fourth of 14 teams at the SAA Culture Show in Toronto on March 14, each moment on stage was worth the wait.
President of the dance team and second-year Carleton student Komal Minhas remembers when the team only placed 13th last year out of 15 teams. Their drive this year, she explained, stemmed from a yearning to prove themselves as a dance team to be reckoned with.
“Last year, most of us were a bunch of rookies. [This year,] we surprised them beyond compare. No one really knew what to expect.”
The team based their routine and set design around a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme, weaving a narrative with unique dancing routines, which fused traditional Indian dancing styles with more modern styles like hip-hop.
The performance is judged on four dancing styles: Bhangra, Classical style, Bollywood and Fusion, which integrates more contemporary styles. Minhas describes Bhangra as a type of “folk dance” from Northern India, which contrasts with the more poised, rigid style of classical Indian dance.
“What is striking about the classical style compared with other styles of Indian dancing is the rigidity of it. It’s meant to be a dance for the Hindu Gods, so it’s very regal,” Minhas said.
Indian dancing can be viewed as an art form, but there is a serious amount of physical skill involved, Minhas explained.
“It’s the level of competition and endurance that goes into it. You can’t dance like that if you aren’t physically on top of your game,” Minhas said.
The performance depended on a strict and repetitive workout regime, consisting of dryland training and practices that averaged about eight hours a week.
Two weeks prior to the performance, dancers were practicing for more than seven hours every day.
“If someone doesn’t show up for basketball practice, they’ll sit the next game out. But there isn’t the same accountability in dance,” Minhas said.
The onus, Minhas explained, is instead upon the team as a whole and depends on constant communication.
“If the person next to you at practice did their move three seconds too early in the routine, we would have to restart. It’s so tough, and there is so much criticism in such a concentrated period of time, but at the same time it helps foster that team feeling. It goes way beyond the individual.”