‘Rangina’ – Georgia Tech’s 2006 Holi Show
Georgia Tech's India Club organized its annual Holi Show – Rangina, at the Georgia World Congress Center on April 15th. A shift in venue from the Robert Ferst center, this year's show included participants from other colleges in the South-East with the University of Florida's grand finale bhangra item! Anokhi Patel, Jaimini Dave, Saumya Dave, Vivek Patel, Monish Thawani were the emcees for the evening and did a great job entertaining the audience. Their preparation between each act and rehearsal of dialogues was manifested throughout the show. Some of their highlights included a college rivalry skit between the stereotyped Georgia Tech jackets and the UGA dawgs.
Kruti Dance Academy's performance of "Holi Re," from Mangal Pandey deserved honorable mention with their impeccable coordination, grand outfits and props symbolizing the festival. The dance group Zindagi performed to several fusion pieces in simple white outfits. They won the audiences appreciation by incorporating a bicycle movement as part of their dance.
The Georgia team, ‘Bulldawg Bhangra', featured a twist with a live dhol player. Emory's Azaadi group performed a spectacular bhangra piece which included a sword juggle by one of the dancers! Tech's all-female dance group, Nazzaqat, performed "Main Vari Vari," with finesse and showcased their fusion of classical dance steps and contemporary Bollywood ones. However, the audience was getting saturated with the plethora of bhangra groups. The participants of Tufaan took a different angle and had a patriotic theme with a slide presentation honoring India's freedom fighters. Their songs included ‘Rind Posh Maal' from Mission Kashmir and the recent hit ‘Rang De Basanti.' Another group, Champa and Chameli, demonstrated dance steps without any music.
Other groups included Tech's Junoon who spelled out "GT," the initials of Georgia Tech, Apsaras and Sitara from Emory, and Karma. There was also a male solo performance by Hariqbal Basi to a very different musical genre.
Shemoni Sheth, coordinator of the 2006 Holi Show, along with the rest of the executive board was introduced to the audience by this year's co-presidents, Abhishek Shah and Smriti Jaitpal. Their collaboration with other ICE (Indian Cultural Exchange) organization throughout the South-East allowed for several inter-collegiate programs. The committee should be applauded for their outreach efforts and targeting newer audiences.
The official website of the show: http://www.gtholishow.com/main.html
- Archith Seshadri
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