UTD Dance Troupe Shines at National Competition

(Photo courtesy of Praneeth Gogineni)

The TaRaas Indian Dance Team at UT Dallas, which specializes in the Indian traditional folk dance of Raas-Garba, placed second at the Raas All-Stars National Championship for collegiate teams in March.

About 50 universities across the country have Raas-Garba teams that participate at 15 national competitions each year. The top eight teams in the country qualify for the Raas All-Stars National Championship, held every spring at the Eisemann Center in Richardson. This was the first time that TaRaas qualified for the event.

“This is one of the highest honors the team can receive, and we have worked incredibly hard to reach this point,” said computer science senior Pooshan Shah, who is co-captain of TaRaas along with information technology and systems junior Rupal Kotecha. “Our place as national winners has definitely placed UTD on the map as a university where performing arts and cultural diversity thrive.”

The UTD team, which was founded in 2014, has 20 student members.

During the 2017-2018 season, the team participated in four national-level competitions, winning two second-place and one first-place awards.

–Robin Russell