Desi Club hosted its first Bollywood Dance Night on March 18 in the Lyceum at GBS. According to Club Sponsor Sejal Schullo, the night consisted of Bollywood-(the Indian movie industry) themed music and dancing.

“[The idea] actually came up last year [when] Bhangra Beatz performed, and there was so much enthusiasm, and the kids were so excited to see them dance,” Schullo said. “We were kind of like, ‘Wouldn’t it be fun if we had a dance playing Bollywood music that people could come to and dance to?’”

About 70 people came to the dance—an impressive turnout in Schullo’s opinion. Desi Club hired a DJ to play the music and provided pizza, snacks and beverages for all attendees. The music played at the event was mostly from popular Indian movies, as the majority of Indian music originates that way, and the dances taught  by Desi Club members were mostly modern ones.

“It started off slow,” Schullo said. “It was a little bit like junior high where there [were] little groups of people dancing off in [the corners, but] they eventually came into a big group, and it was really exciting to see kids who were not Desi Club members, who are not Indian [and] who are not normally exposed to this kind of music just having such a great time.”

Senior Tiffany Thomas, Desi Club member, and fellow club members taught simple Bollywood dancing steps to attendees. Thomas has danced in the Variety Show with Bhangra Beatz for two years and has been doing Bollywood dance since before kindergarten.

“I thought the night was a lot of fun,” Thomas said. “It was really nice to see that other people from school or people we don’t really talk to on a daily basis come out. […] I really like dancing with people who aren’t from the Indian background, because they had a lot of fun trying to learn some of the Indian steps.”

Beyond raising awareness and knowledge of recreational aspects to Indian culture, the night also served an altruistic purpose, according to Schullo. Besides helping pay for the food and DJ,  the five dollar fees to enter the dance went to Inspiration Centre, the charity that Desi Club is sponsoring this year. Inspiration Centre is a non-profit school for students and adults with learning disabilities located in New Delhi and Dara Dune, India.