BnB choreographers balance school work and other responsibilities

For junior Shreyas Doshi, April is a stress-filled, head-breaking, fingernail-chewing month. This anxiety comes not from AP classes, extracurriculars or sports, but rather from choreographing a dance in Bombay in the Bay.

Doshi, along with junior Rohil Taggarsi, is a choreographer of the junior boys’ dance. The good friends and neighbors spend about three to four hours weekly for approximately two months before the show on April 14 making the dance. Although it may seem insane to the untrained, Doshi believes his past helps him through the time struggle.

“Since I have been involved in hip-hop and Bollywood dance for the past six years, I have seen a lot and done plenty of dances, which really helps me do a move and choreograph,” Doshi said.
Experience often saves the choreographers time, allowing them to efficiently teach the dance and add stunts to grab the audiences’ attention.

“Many people make a complex routine that is unteachable and others the vice versa. You have to be able to create a choreography that can please a crowd, that can be easy to teach, and retain a coolness factor,” Doshi said.

Much like Doshi, junior Sanjna Verma felt her time slip away while attempting to make dances and schedule practices.

“Getting to coordinate times with everyone and then actually carrying out the dance seems to be the biggest struggle for a choreographer. Junior year especially seems to make it difficult to work out timings with the SAT and other classes,” Verma said.

Although the sophomores and freshmen may not identify with the workload of the juniors, it seems as though their inspiration comes from the same place: professional collegiate dance teams.
Sophomore Ruchi Jain said most of the time, she refers to lots of college dance team videos (NYU/UCLA) for different moves. She said they use intense choreography and formations; however, she takes elements and incorporates them into her choreography.

While some rely on the advanced movies of Bollywood, others prefer a more innovative path.
“I keep watching videos and taking lessons to learn new styles of dance and expand my knowledge of the subject matter. I just keep trying to learn new things,” senior dance head Aanchal Mohan said.

As much as Bombay in the Bay is an exciting and cultural experience, nearly all the choreographers cited their biggest challenge as time.

“All of the dancers have such different schedules, that it gets hard to find times to practice with everyone there. It’s such a huge time commitment!” Jain said. “Most weekends, I am running from volunteering, to choreography, to dance practice, to classes, to more dance practices, and repeat!”
Despite the struggles between schedules and school, Bombay in the Bay is sure to be an exciting ride into Indian culture.

“I never regret joining, and I know in spite of the difficulties with time and school, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Mohan said.