This January, as senior Ruchir Mehta finished a two-hour All Males Dance (AMD) practice at school that took place right after a two-hour Bhangra practice for the Indian Cultural Awareness Club (ICAC), he debated whether to go straight to the 8 p.m. seniors’ co-ed practice on an empty stomach or to take a short break.
Faced with another two hours of dancing, Mehta, who acts as the club’s administrative liason, and senior Keshav Narayan ultimately decided to drive to McDonald’s for McChickens and fries.
While arriving a few minutes late to a dance practice may seem trivial, the pressure that the seven ICAC officers feel to put on another great Bombay in the Bay (BnB) is real, and this time of year their lives consist of little else besides school, sleep and Indian dance.
When hundreds of students and parents fill the McAfee Center on the evenings of Feb. 17 and 18 to support the performers, they will witness the variety of dances and the vibrant, shimmering traditional Indian costumes presented on stage. Yet few will truly know the amount of work the ICAC officers and other participants have put in over the past three months.
“The audience never sees the behind-the-scenes work, such as the making of brochures and T-shirts, as well as the process of teaching choreography,” said senior Kirthana Ramesh, who choreographed dances and is also the club’s business manager. “It is really cool to see how much gets accomplished within a span of three months.”
One of the most important steps in producing BnB is finding sponsors. In turn, these sponsors donate money for advertising in the BnB showbill that introduces the dances, performers and ICAC’s goals as a whole. This year it was created by ICAC co-president senior Maya Prasad.
ICAC donates all proceeds from the show to a different charity every year. This year, the proceeds will go to Parikrma Foundation, which provides education to thousands of children from orphanages and slums in India.
As business manager, Ramesh contacted people from many local businesses such as realtors, exercise studios and restaurants and raised about $2,600 through sponsorships, beating their original goal of $1,500.
Along with fundraising for the charity, the officers and choreographers had the task of teaching the dances and keeping track of around 200 participants who are part of the show this year. Although some special acts such as Bhangra require tryouts, most of the dances are open to all interested students. As a result, many seniors who have never been part of BnB before signed up this year, resulting in a total of 75 participants in the senior dance.
In order to weave all the various dance styles into one cohesive performance, the officers spent hours writing the script, trying to overcome the challenge of making the skit entertaining for people of both Indian and non-Indian cultures.
“We had to make sure we don't put in too many jokes that only people of Indian origin understand, but rather a variety of things different people will find funny,” said Nimisha Devanagondi, who is dance commissioner for ICAC. “Balancing the two communities within our skit is crucial for the success of the show.”
For costumes, choreographers for each dance selected a color scheme and proceeded to hunt online for costumes that would “stand out on stage.” The officers decided on a color theme for decorations as well, assigning the heads of a parent committee that consists of ICAC officers’ parents to be in charge of decorating the stage and lobby.
To further promote the event, Devanagondi shot video clips from practices of different dances such as AMD and Bhangra and compiled them into a music video, which aired on SHSTV on Feb. 2, the same day that BnB tickets went on sale.
“It is amazing how the show brings together a large group of people of different cultural backgrounds both on stage and in the audience,” Ramesh said.