Raas Ramzat Fundraising

Raas Ramzat is a competitive Raas/Garba Indian folk dance team recently founded at UC Berkeley and its aim is to spread awareness about a unique form of dance within India. 

The dance style, Raas, consists mainly of the usage of props, the most important being the use of dandiyas (traditional indian sticks). The Garba dance style is traditionally performed in a cyclic formation using different clap patterns to match the music. These dance forms are an expression of joy, often performed in order to celebrate the festival season. It is a high-energy dance form that combines Indian melodies with Western music. Emphasis is placed on intricate dance moves and creative dance formations. As a competitive team, we participate in competitions in the Midwest, East Coast, and the South to showcase this form of dance. Raas Ramzat's goal is to provide an outlet for creative and artistic expression, and to provide a supportive and nurturing community to a group of hardworking dancers. Raas & Garba have a tremendous cultural and historical significance attached to them and we would like to share this distinct traditional dance form with a modern twist with the students of UC Berkeley. We have worked to establish ourselves in Berkeley’s South Asian community by regularly performing at cultural and special events held by other UC Berkeley student organizations, as well as at gigs locally in the Bay Area. 

Raas Ramzat 2022-23 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. 
Rangeelo Raas - Competition in Tampa, Florida 

This year, we have participated in three competitions in Ohio, Florida, and Maryland. Our team had been practicing diligently throughout the fall and spring semester to perfect our set and create a visually stunning production. We are incredibly proud to have finished our season and showcased our set to our family and friends!

Performance at Raas in the 614 in Columbus, Ohio

With crowdfunding, we hope to raise money for our next year's team to use for their competitive season and continue our upward trend. 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. Along with that, our competitions require a substantial amount of money for competition applications, registration fees, and team gear so that we are provided with necessary food and accommodations throughout the competition weekends. 

Raas Ramzat at the Airport

A major financial burden from managing a team of 18 dancers is transportation costs for the movement of large materials, as well as to ensure the safety of all of our dancers. We want to use the money raised to help expand our reach throughout the Bay Area, so that we’re able to hold workshops to teach others of this new dance form, as well as to educate those on the traditional aspects of our dance. Cultural pluralism, as well as cultural understanding, is a value that we as a team uphold. We integrate South Asian and Western culture to create our own unique dance that takes the audience through a story. Our purpose is to give others a glimpse of a different style of dance, one that dates back 3000 years while being set in the modern time. 

Here is a breakdown of how we would use the money we raise:

• $400: hotels for our overnight stays at competitions in the East Coast Midwest, and South
• $300: traditional Gujarati dance costumes
• $300: supplies to build backdrop and handheld props

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 Shalini Saravanan (shalini.sarav@berkeley.edu).