Eight collegiate dance teams from across the nation will travel to Norman to compete at the 31st Bollywood fusion dance competition, Norman Nachle, hosted by OU’s South Asian Student Association.
The Desi Dance Network oversees collegiate Desi dance competitions across the country. Legends Dance Championship, the organization's championship, has 21 regional partner competitions where teams compete for a chance to qualify. This year, Norman Nachle is an official partner of the competition for the second consecutive year.
Urvika Patil, senior director of Norman Nachle, said she is proud of the competition's growth and hopes OU students will experience it. According to Patil, Norman Nachle is the only Bollywood fusion dance competition in Oklahoma.
“When an opportunity like this comes up, I always say just take it,” Patil said. “It is such a cool thing to watch, and it's genuinely so incredible to see how much work and passion these teams put into their performance.”
According to Patil, Norman Nachle is more than a dance competition, and it allows OU South Asian students to connect with Desi culture and enhance South Asian representation on campus. Patil said dance is an important element of Desi culture that creates unity among everyone, even non-dancers.
“It really helped us learn that dance can bring this community together and be such an integral part of our culture, but that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be on stage,” Patil said.
OU students cannot dance at Norman Nachle, but they can take part in exhibition dances. Khushi Damani is a participant in these dances and a third-year liasion. According to Damani, liaisons provide guidance and hospitality to the dance teams traveling to Norman, and she is excited to bond over a shared love for dance.
“As a dancer, being able to meet fellow dancers from different parts of the states is just an incredible experience,” Damani said.
According to Damani, she is also excited to watch the teams compete because every team brings a unique performance to the stage.
“Each team, they’ll have their own theme. They'll have their sets that are kind of theme-dependent,” Damani said. “Seeing what all the themes are and how the teams are able to execute it into a performance is something I'm always really excited about, especially as a fellow dancer.”
When she came to OU, Patil said she was drawn to Norman Nachle as a way to share her passion for dance and connect with her community and culture. Today, she is grateful for the friendships and connections she developed.
"It's given me something to put my creativity and passion into, but also so many good relationships have come out of this, both at OU and across the nation,” Patil said.
Patil has enjoyed watching Norman Nachle grow from a smaller competition to an official partner competition. She has seen sold-out shows and received positive feedback on the Norman competition's growth.
“I think the community that comes from this is the greatest gift of all,” Patil said. “It's just such a genuine experience to watch.”
Damani said Norman Nachle is an experience that competitive South Asian dancing audiences can’t get anywhere else.
“You get to meet teams from all over the country,” Damani said. “You get to meet people from all over the country and you get to see them compete. See what they worked … hours for, and that definitely is worth every single dollar, every single penny you spend on those tickets.”
The competition starts at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Reynolds Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available online.
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Madisson Cameron. Larkin Bock and Tori Pham copy edited this story.
