Bombay in the Bay adjusts to earlier show date

January 28, 2014 — by Rohan Hardikar & Simi Srivastava
For the past few months, the members of /the Indian Cultural Awareness Club have been preparing for their biggest event of the year, Bombay in the Bay (BnB). This annual showcase, on Feb. 14 and 15, features SHS students performing several Indian dance numbers.
Dances this year include the four grade dances; a teacher dance; Bhangra, which is a traditional Punjabi dance; and a classical dance. In past years, there had been a Garba segment, which was a traditional Gujurati dance, but it has been eliminated this year because nobody volunteered to lead the dance, according to senior officers Sachi Verma, Raj Thakkar, Ruchi Jain, Trishika Shetty, Rohan Hardikar, Rick Roy and Priyanka Krishnamurti.
With less than a month to go, the officers, performers and parents of Bombay in the Bay are scrambling to take care of the remaining logistical issues. The officers still need to find a charity, determine the sponsors and select a caterer for dinner for the Saturday night show.
For the past few months, the members of /the Indian Cultural Awareness Club have been preparing for their biggest event of the year, Bombay in the Bay (BnB). This annual showcase, on Feb. 14 and 15, features SHS students performing several Indian dance numbers.
Dances this year include the four grade dances; a teacher dance; Bhangra, which is a traditional Punjabi dance; and a classical dance. In past years, there had been a Garba segment, which was a traditional Gujurati dance, but it has been eliminated this year because nobody volunteered to lead the dance, according to senior officers Sachi Verma, Raj Thakkar, Ruchi Jain, Trishika Shetty, Rohan Hardikar, Rick Roy and Priyanka Krishnamurti.
With less than a month to go, the officers, performers and parents of Bombay in the Bay are scrambling to take care of the remaining logistical issues. The officers still need to find a charity, determine the sponsors and select a caterer for dinner for the Saturday night show.
Due to the earlier show date this year, vast changes were made to how each grade went about starting their dances.
“We started work before [Christmas] break to make sure every grade had their songs,” Indian club president and senior Sachi Verma said. “Overall we’re just trying to push people harder [to compensate for the earlier date].”
By this point, all of the grades have almost finished their dances, but the freshmen have encountered difficulties in the freshman dance.
“We got help from upperclassmen and siblings for advice on choreography, but I don’t think we are organized at all in terms of having practices,” freshman Puja Maheshwari said. “Another major difficulty is getting guys to [participate in BnB]. As of now we have 14 girls and three guys.”
On the other hand, the sophomores feel they have been able to accomplish more in practices than they did last year.
“We have two less months to practice, so that’s definitely a challenge, but our practices have to continue to be productive to make the most of our time,” sophomore Josh Dey said. 
Along with giving the students less time to prepare, the earlier show date also poses other difficulties.
“Our [show] date is causing more of a problem because it’s the same day as Bollywood Berkeley and a major speech and debate performance,” Verma said. 
Despite these difficulties, the officers still predict an entertaining show similar to ones in past years.
“I really want people to have fun and give people a chance to learn about Indian culture,” Verma said. “I really want people to enjoy it — for the audience to enjoy it and for the performers to enjoy it so they’ll do it next year.”
 
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