Meet UW DangeRaas Dawgs

They'll be performing Raas, a traditional Indian folk dance, at the CulturalFest Performance Showcase.

Photo Credit: UW Student Life

UW DangeRaas Dawgs  is one of twelve acts at the upcoming CulturalFest Performance Showcase (Saturday, February 8, 7:30 PM at Meany Hall). Read on to learn more about who they are and what their performance is about!

UW DangeRaas is the first ever collegiate Raas team to represent Seattle, WA. This team aims to promote the traditional dance forms of Raas and Garba. As a team, UW DangerRaas strive to create colorful performances combining traditional Raas with the newly invented form of collegiate competitive Raas.

Raas is a traditional Indian folk dance originating in the state of Gujurat. Typically performed during the festival of Navratri or at celebratory occasions such as weddings, Raas has evolved into one of the most well-known, colorful, exciting Indian dance forms.

Raas is comprised of two parts - Garba, and Dandiya. Garba is typically danced to slower beats, using a variety of hand motions and group formations, while Dandiya is a fast-paced dance where each person uses two 'dandiyas' (a type of wooden stick) to create unique movements. As a collegiate Raas team, we fuse Garba and Dandiya to create spectacular, unique, and culturally rich performances for everyone to learn about the Gujurati state and its customs.

We're looking forward to seeing this immensely talented group take the stage at CulturalFest!