A group of LSU students are forming a team to perform Indian dances known as “garba-raas,” whose roots lie in traditional Hindu festivals but now include dance contests with a modern twist.
There are many regional variants in India, but garba-raas dances are commonly performed during the festival of Navratri, where a powerful goddess who goes by Shakti and Durga is honored, said coastal environmental science
sophomore Gourav Divan, one of the presidents of the student group TigeRaas.
Garba is a circular dance often performed around an effigy of the goddess, Divan said, while raas is a more rapid dance performed with sticks symbolizing the blades the goddess used to slay a cruel being known as the Demon of Swords.
Teams of dancers travel around the U. S. to compete in these dances, with garba-raas groups at universities such as University of California, Berkeley and Texas A&M University.
Many of the TigeRaas executive members have roots in the Indian state of Gujarat, whose people have a long history of garba-raas dancing and make up a large portion of LSU’s Indian students, Divan said.
“Garba-raas is pretty much in their blood,” Divan said.
Competitive garba-raas features themed performances by teams of dancers.
“One team of anywhere from 12 to 16 people, usually eight guys and eight girls in traditional costumes, dance for anywhere from five and a half to seven minutes to [a] very high-paced, high-energy mix of different songs,” Divan said. “Usually Garajati, but sometimes they put Bollywood songs just to make things
interesting.”
TigeRaas is considering a recess-themed dance set, with moves from leap-frog, hop-scotch and other playground games incorporated into the performance.
The rapid movements, kicks and coordination require a high level of athleticism and precision, Thumma said.
“It’s so fast paced, you have to be so fit to do it. You can’t be screwing around with it,” said Snigdha Thumma, biochemistry sophomore and TigeRaas president. “If you’re not up to it, it’ll completely break [you] down.”
Thumma, a former cheerleader and dancer, said despite having athletic backgrounds, many members had only casually danced garba-raas in the past. A dancer with eight years of experience is helping to hone their skills for competing against the national teams, many of whose dancers have participated since they were small children.
“We are the only raas team in the Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi area,” Divan said.
Divan and Thumma said competing nationally requires extensive travel and necessitating fundraising for costumes imported from India, as well as lodging and other expenses. They plan to offer henna body-painting to attendees at sorority sisterhood events as one way to gather funds.
Currently about 11 students plan to join, and TigeRaas hopes to soon have at least 16 dancers. They plan to perform at the LSU Multicultural Show this semester and be ready to start competing at the national level by the next school year.

Gallery • 9 Photos

Haskell Whittington

LSU sophomore biochemistry, pre-medicine focus, major and buisness minor Snidha Thumma who helped start the LSU TigeRaas dance team on Tuesday Sept. 29, 2015, in the LSU Student Union.