Our Crowdfunding Groups
Our group, Raas Ramzat, is a competitive Indian folk dance team that aims to spread awareness of this beautiful and intricate art form in two ways: hosting workshops open to the public, and traveling around the country to perform and compete in events dedicated to celebrating our passion for dance. As a relatively new dance team, we have worked to establish ourselves in Berkeley’s South Asian community. We regularly perform at cultural and special events held by other UC Berkeley student organizations, as well as at gigs locally in the Bay Area. Additionally, we have questioned the status quo by dancing at and winning competitions around the country despite being an all-female dance team - a feat that is almost unheard of in the national intercollegiate Raas circuit.
Raas Ramzat 2021-22 at our annual photoshoot
Our team members come from unique backgrounds and have varying levels of dance experience. However, very few of our dancers had done Raas before joining the team. By fostering a culture of constant learning and performing, we teach Raas to those outside our community while giving all the dancers on our team the opportunity to expand their repertoire of dance styles. Our takeaways from Raas Ramzat are more than just dance, however; our practice and performance schedule teaches us how to manage time properly, communicate effectively with other organization leaders, and develop our own leadership skills. Finally, not only are we a dance team, we are a tightly-knit community. Through hours of practice, socials, and travel, we have become a family.
Raas Ramzat 2018-19 competing in North Carolina
This year, we are participating in three competitions in the Midwest, East Coast, and the South. Despite almost a year and a half of virtual classes, our team has been practicing throughout the pandemic and in the fall semester of this year to perfect our set and create a visually stunning production. We are very excited to finally show our family and friends what we've been working on!
Raas Ramzat 2019-20 at our annual photoshoot
With crowdfunding, we hope to raise money to use for this competitive season. Our group would use these funds to purchase and create costumes and props that are necessary for the visual appeal of our performances. The larger and more detailed we make our props, the better they will integrate with our performance theme. We also need money to pay for our competition applications, registration fees, and team gear. Additionally, we would use the money to host more publicly accessible workshops to spread cultural awareness of Raas. Here is a breakdown of how we would use the money we raise:
We sincerely thank you for any contribution you are able to make to our team! You can also follow our progress this semester on our Instagram account (@ucb.raasramzat). If you have any questions or want to learn more, please contact Sneha Sridhar (snehasridhar@berkeley.edu).
Gig performance for Sahaara at Berkeley in 2020
We will send you a personalized thank-you card from our team!
We will send you postcards from our competitions as well as videos of our performances!
