Garba and Dandiya Raas, an Indian dance originating from the celebration of the Hindu holiday Navratri, has been embraced by the Indian community and transformed into competitions to preserve tradition, congregate as a community and have an excuse to dance.

We will follow the 2009-2010 UCLA Garba Raas team from their fall auditions through their spring competitions to investigate the beauty, teamwork and stress behind the creation of their competition routines. We will explore the the effect of school studies and family background on the dancer’s team life and vice versa. We’ll break down the process of organizing the increasingly popular collegiate competitions and explain their role in the evolution in this generation’s connection to their heritage.