FAQ
What Would You Like to Know?
What is Inaayat?
OSU Inaayat is the Premier Indian Classical Dance Team on Ohio State’s campus. The country of India is known for its vibrant art culture, with colorful clothing, rhythmic music, and various styles of dance; there are many Indian-based dance teams at Ohio State that focus on specific niches of dance like Fusion, Bhangra, and Raas. As a classical group, we focus on using our dance form to tell and share stories through expression and dance movements. Traditional Bharathanatyam pieces focus on telling the stories of Hindu mythology, but OSU Inaayat also uses our platform to spread awareness of social issues as a student lead dance team. Our team is mainly comprised of Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers, but welcome other forms of Indian Classical dance.
What does the weekly time commitment look like?
Traditionally, we've had 2 - 3 practices a week, depending if we're a competitive team for each academic year. For this school year, 2022-2023, we are preparing for competitions so we have three practices that are each two hours every week.
What kind of on-campus performances do you do?
Inaayat has had the opportunity to perform campus wide at major campus events like Taste of OSU, student organization events such as Hanukkah-Diwali Dinner, Gigs for Guatemala Talent Showcase and more. We even were able to travel to OU and showcase our staple pieces. Through our on-campus performances we hope to continue to advocate for traditional art forms within a modern context and are continually working to find more opportunities around campus. We still hope to perform once or twice on campus to share our hard work and talents with our peers and community, whether that be online or in person. Check out our previous performances at the "Performances" tab or our YouTube!
What styles of classical does your team do?
As the only Indian Classical Dance Team on campus, we welcome all forms of classical dance for our team! That being said, our choreographers are familiar with certain styles of dance, such as Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi which also reflects what a majority of our team has learned. If you practice other forms of dance and are willing to be actively involved in the choreography sessions/planning vision, please contact us!
What does competition season look like?
The competitive season typically involves learning a 7-8 minute piece throughout September to December. As a team we would film an audition video in mid-November to enter into the competitive circuit. Having 3 practices a week, as a team we're prepared to commit to 6 hours of practice. From there, we would participate in 1-2 competitions that involve a week commitment in February and March. At the end of the year we would host a performance for friends and family to celebrate our hard work throughout the semester.
How do I get involved in Inaayat?
We love that you’re interested in joining our team! Workshops are held at the beginning of the fall semester, after the first week of classes are completed. Within these workshops, you will learn our past/current choreography to see if you feel comfortable with our dance styles, and to gauge if you learn new material quickly/are adaptive. At the end of the workshop, you will perform the 30 second piece you learned, with 15 seconds of freestyle, for your audition. After the workshop/audition, you will hear back from us regarding whether or not you have been extended an opportunity to join our team. Follow us on socials for updates about workshops!
Why should I join?
OSU Inaayat is a community of dancers that all have a collective passion for traditional art forms but more than that Inaayat is a community that works to support, empower and lift each other up. As a team we celebrate dance and continue to promote this celebration of dance within our practices, performances and overall culture. Additionally, we all work to support each other outside of the dance world in ensuring each member feels supported. Join Inaayat and you can be a part of this wonderful community of dancers who love and celebrate traditional dance and who will also love and celebrate you!
What are some ways I can support Inaayat besides being on the team?
If you are not interested in joining Inaayat as a dancer, you can still be involved! Follow us on our social media pages, attend our on-campus performances, and feel free to donate to our team so we can attend competitions! We appreciate all efforts to assist our team representing Ohio State and continuing to practice a classical art form.
If you are a member of the Columbus community, and represent an organization interested in financially supporting our team, please contact us!
How much will fees/expenses be for the team and going competitive?
When we are a competitive team we will need to all work together to cover application fees, transportation costs, costume costs, jewelry costs and more. Therefore, we have programmed several fundraisers and volunteer opportunities to ensure that all members will be able to cover expenses. The highest expense on members would range from $100-$120 per person for the full competitive year
Where can I see some snippets of your performances?
We post all of our performances/recorded content on Youtube! You can find our channel by searching “OSU Inaayat” and viewing our dances! We’re constantly creating new pieces and looking for opportunities to perform them on campus and within Columbus. Please reach out to Sangeeta Shah (shah.1459@osu.edu) if you’re interested in having us for a performance opportunity.