Our Crowdfunding Groups
Click here to see a full production by Azaad at the National Level!
In a pitch black room, you see a screen illuminated with a crippled woman going through physical therapy, a patient suffering from bipolar disorder yelling at his terrified wife, a cancer remission patient eagerly waiting to learn of her fate. The showlights dawn on the vast stage, and with a bang the stage bursts into music and dance. The production actively engages the audience with a social message, that everyone has stories and insights worth sharing, in an effort to combat the growingly polarized world.
Azaad is a Bollywood fusion dance team at UC Berkeley that raises awareness of impending social issues through performances all across the country. We train our members to be leaders for not only others, but also themselves. Dancers learn to overcome hardship, think creatively, and take responsibility for their own actions. Azaad, in particular, is an extremely competitive group, having placed highly in local and national competitions, and members are required to put in at least 9 hours of scheduled practice a week, sometimes extending to 30 hours a week. This teaches time management, discipline, and dedication, which are vital traits to be successful. By granting this funding to the team, you would be helping a minority student population achieve a brighter future. Please make a gift today!
The benefits of our organization reach beyond the direct development of our members, impacting the communities we reach out to. Azaad strives to serve as a beacon of cultural awareness for the South Asian community and its allies. Our dancers, no matter what race, color, creed, or class, understand the cultural misrepresentations of the South Asian community pervasive in our world. Our dancers are committed to sharing their spark of hope with the world, and we are more than humbled to be a part of their journey. We perform at several large competitions with viewership of over 3000 people at each of our 6 performances. In addition, through social media outreach we expand our viewership by about 50,000 people. We dance to share a message and have a positive impact on Berkeley and the world, but we need financial assistance to do so.
Our projected expenses sum to $18,855, and if we are not able to raise enough money we are forced to charge our dancers or will have to forfeit from competitions. Thus, it is vital for us to raise funds to cover costs such as for our stage props, costumes, and transportation. Every dollar helps Azaad achieve its goal of spreading a message to the world, and being the number one dance team in the circuit.
Thank you for showing interest in Azaad! Please donate to help us reach our goal today!
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With a donation of this level, you will receive a handwritten customized thank you card signed by all the members of Azaad. In addition, you will get personal updates on what we have produced with the money you have invested in us.
If you choose to donate $50, Azaad will feature your name or your company’s logo on our social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram. Additionally, we will acknowledge you or your business as one of our sponsors in our about section.
Not only will you be acknowledged as one of our sponsors in our about section, during the year, we will post advertisements/season messages on behalf of you or your company on our facebook page and social media up to five times!
For every performance, Azaad shows a 2-minute introduction video which is played to provide context to the performance. This is later posted on YouTube for thousands of viewers to see. If you choose to donate $300, Azaad will feature your company’s logo in its introduction video or list your name as one of our generous supporters.
If you choose to donate $600, you will receive VIP seating at one of Azaad’s performances (with purchase of a ticket). In addition you may step in on some of our practices to really get to know the team and be a bigger part of our family.
