Gabra team brings home first place

In just its first year of existence, the Tufts University Garba Team (a South Asian dance form) was crowned national champion at the second annual "Raas Chaos" Dance Competition last month.

At the event, which was hosted by George Washington University in Washington DC, Tufts received a trophy and $1,250 for winning the competition.

Georgetown took home second place and a $750.00 award.

The team had never participated in a competition before this one, let alone a national championship. But with the help of the Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA) and the enthusiasm of undergraduate students, the team earned the chance to compete for the national crown, and made the best of it.

"We didn't know anything about the competition, about what to expect, how the other teams danced, nothing," senior dancer and TASA president Kruti Dharia said. "We had no idea if we would win or come in dead last."

The team, led by senior captain Avana Desai, consists of 11 girls: seniors Avana Desai, Dharia, and Sapna Shah, juniors Ronak Patel, Gati Dharani, Milani Patel, Tara Paulose and Kavita Patel, and freshman Aekta Shah, Hiral Shah, and Reena Desai.

While traditional garba generally includes both men and women, the Tufts team was the only all-female team at the competition. Because Tufts' Garba team was not coed, it was penalized five points even before the start of the competition.

Desai, who has been participating in raas/garba since she was eight, choreographed the entire ten-minute dance, marking the first time she created an entire dance all on her own. She choreographed the dance, created a mix of appropriate music, and helped the team get acquainted with the motions.

The women practiced for nine hours every week since late September, upping it to 12 hours a week as the competition came closer. In the week preceding the competition, the girls practiced for 15 hours weekly to perfect the steps and get their timing exactly right.

"I've never worked with such a dedicated group of girls before. Every one of them loves garba so much that they were willing to put in whatever it took to perfect the dance," Desai said. "And guess what, it worked; we won."

In addition to Tufts and Georgetown, three other schools competed for the title: Rutgers, the University of Maryland, and the host George Washington. These five teams were chosen out of approximately 20 from around the country based on an audition tape submitted in October.

Tufts traveled the furthest of any of the five teams to get to the competition, ten hours each way.

"It took a lot of work to get there, and to be ready to compete but it was worth it," Dharia said. "We went to bed at 2:30 a.m. Friday night and we were up at 7 a.m. on Saturday. We had to do all our hair and makeup on our own and pack everything for the competition b/c we knew we would not be back until it was over. We took all safety pins, bobby pins, hairspray, food, make-up, anything you can think of, with us."

When the emcee announced that Tufts was the winner, the girls did not know what to do with themselves.

"I don't think there was anyone there more surprised than we were," Avana Desai said. "We knew we had a great dance and performed perfectly but since we were definitely the underdogs there, we weren't sure if we would be recognized. I think we took the competition to a level it had never been to before, showing we didn't need to have boys to be engaging and lively."

In fact, the girls, upon receiving the award, were jumping up and down so intensely that they broke their first place trophy.

Dharia found out about this competition through a friend from MIT, because GW actually never e-mailed Tufts about the competition. She brought up the competition at the first general TASA meeting to see if anyone would be interested in choreographing a dance, or participating in it. Because so many people took an interest, she immediately e-mailed GW about the competition.

Garba and Raas originated from the state of Gujarat. They are traditional dances performed during Navrati. They originated from the days of Lord Krishna who played Raas with his beloved Gopis near the Yamuna River in India.

The Garba team members found the weekend a wonderful experience.

"We definitely didn't expect to win, we just went out there and danced our best and showed a lot of expression and enthusiasm," Patel said. "Our hard work and the long drive definitely were worth it. It felt great to be somewhere representing Tufts, and showing all the other DC schools that teams from Boston can't be easily written off."

Aekta Shah agreed.

"This has been an unforgettable experience," she said. Not only did we win, but in the process I made ten amazing friends."