By Addie Jones

Donning vibrant red costumes, the Bollywood team struck the final pose of their 10-minute dance piece. Amid the applause and each other’s smiling, breathless faces, the hours of work and long nights of choreography culminated in the beauty of dance and performance.

Arkansas Atrangi is a registered student organization (RSO) and the first-ever Bollywood fusion competitive dance team at the University of Arkansas. From charming local gigs to widespread national competitions, the group intends to share Indian dance culture with a broad audience while creating invaluable friendships.

Leading a team of 21, Amrusha Ranjith, a sophomore public health major, serves as a season captain alongside Soumya Kolluru and Matangi Arun. The three officers oversee choreography and formations while managing additional team needs or responsibilities. All of the captains have previous experience in Bharatanatyam, a classical Southern Indian dance form, and benefit from being adaptable to other dance styles.

Ranjith said Atrangi is a fairly new RSO at the beginning of its journey. The dance team first arrived on campus in 2021 and became registered in 2022, which is the year Ranjith joined. Though Atrangi is where her collegiate experience began, she said she had been partaking in this art form her entire life.

“Bollywood dancing is something I feel like a lot of Indian kids are forced to pick up,” Ranjith said, “and I was one of those people, but I ended up really liking it. I’ve been Bollywood dancing all my life.” 

From cultural to community events, Ranjith has performed Bharatanatyam since the age of 11, which is where she met her two co-captains. This bond from a young age has strengthened their connection and passion for the program, she said.

“Atrangi is such a great experience for people not even involved in the Indian community to join,” Ranjith said. “I just feel like it’s really fun to go around and compete with a close-knit group of people and make a second-family.” 

At the beginning of each academic year, Atrangi hosts auditions and accepts new members. Joia Traver, a sophomore chemical engineering major, became interested in the group last spring when she met Ranjith in chemistry class. Ranjith shared with Traver her experiences in Atrangi, which, at this point, had not yet begun competing.

Traver is a former high-school theater performer and said that while Atrangi’s style is similar to other forms of dance in terms of organized choreography, it is energizing and engaging on another level. During the audition process, Traver learned an entire 10-minute routine that they then performed at the end of the day.

“I had never done anything like that before,” Traver said, “so it was kind of a jump into the unknown seeing if I was even going to like it, but I tried out and had a lot of fun.”

Upon being accepted into the group, Traver participated in community performances that served as a celebration of the art form. These dances were constant, intense movement, she said.

Atrangi is part of a national circuit called Desi Dance Network (DDN), which has a mission to foster a community among artists engaged in South Asian dance. To be a part of the circuit, teams must apply from a university, and Arkansas Atrangi is the first from the UofA to apply. After being accepted into DDN, teams audition for each competition, and on average, the competitions only accept eight teams.

In addition to these competitive, partnered competitions with DDN, there are more casual and small competitions throughout the year. The first competition of 2024 was in Bloomington, Indiana, in early February, and the second was in Norman, Oklahoma. This year, the finals will be in Dallas.

During the competitive season, the group participates in tedious practices to ensure everything is clean and ready for their 10-minute productions that include multiple dance pieces within. In their most intensive time, practices are around four hours on Saturdays and Sundays, with three 2-hour rehearsals during the week. Despite the level of work, Traver said performances and competitions make everything worth it.

“It’s late at night, and you’re like, why am I doing this to myself, but you get to the performances and it makes it all worth it,” Traver said. “The countless nights dancing, the times you were really close to giving up, because you get to see all of your hard work and the teamwork getting appreciated.”

The competitions also give the team members an opportunity to foster connections with each other, their captains and liaisons, adding to the familial aspect of Atrangi.

Looking forward to the rest of the semester, Atrangi is performing at the Indian Cultural Association on March 29 open to all campus students. They are also partnering with The Movement on campus for their dance showcase April 5-7. Tickets will soon be available on the UA theatre website.