When Bollywood fusion dance group Texas Talaash walked on stage at Knight Theater in Charlotte, North Carolina, applause echoed all through the room. The group took to the stage proper after a efficiency from fellow Longhorn group UT Saaya, making UT the one college represented by two teams within the contest.
As their music began, the group, having seen their set all through the competitors season, started singing alongside. In that second, Talaash co-captain Anubhav Kamath mentioned he absolutely comprehended that his group was competing on the Nationwide Legends Competitors.
“We’re used to having a lazy facial (expression for the primary section) as a result of that’s what goes together with the music, however as quickly as the group began singing, our whole group dropped all facials, and all of us began smiling on stage as a result of we simply couldn’t maintain in our happiness,” finance senior Kamath mentioned. “That’s a kind of moments the place all the pieces hit, that we’re actually right here (at Legends).”
This yr, UT groups Texas Talaash and UT Saaya made up two of 9 groups chosen from throughout the nation and traveled to Charlotte this previous weekend to compete at Legends Nationwide Competitors. UT Saaya positioned second and gained the stand-out section award, whereas Texas Talaash got here in seventh.
Public relations senior and UT Saaya co-captain Dhivya Bala mentioned attending the Legends weekend and inserting second within the nation served as proof of her teammates’ substantial efforts, in addition to the affect they created.
“We’re (competing) for us, and sure, we love to bounce, however it’s actually arduous to keep in mind that when all you do is apply and your physique’s exhausted,” Bala mentioned. “However these little moments of (listening to), ‘Hey, I’m rooting for you. I’m watching you. I see the arduous work that you just’re placing in,’ — it means the world, and it completely modifications the expertise you may have.”
With some seniors graduating and members taking a break from the group to deal with different actions, engineering freshman Sarrah Ghadiali mentioned she loved the possibility to compete as a part of UT Saaya with this yr’s distinctive cohort.
“This group is totally different than it’s ever going to be sooner or later,” Ghadiali mentioned. “That is our final time competing collectively (with the identical group of individuals), so it’s type of bittersweet.”
This previous season brimmed with depth, nonetheless it was by constant arduous work that UT Saaya was capable of attend Legends and place nationally, Bala mentioned.
“The highs had been so excessive and the lows had been additionally so low. (This competitors season) examined me as an individual, as a captain, as a frontrunner and as a dancer, however it was really probably the most fulfilling expertise that I’ve ever had in my life,” Bala mentioned. “I like this group with all my coronary heart and soul. I can’t think about what my life would have been like with out them.”
Abhi Murmu, co-captain of Texas Talaash mentioned regardless of not inserting within the prime three, Texas Talaash completed off the weekend with delight for what they put out onstage and a renewed motivation to repeatedly enhance.
“One factor we at all times tried to say in apply is ‘We’re not profitable this for the trophy, we’re not profitable this for clout. We’re doing this for hours of apply, stress, all of the sacrifices and the folks subsequent to you,’” mentioned Murmu, an actuarial arithmetic senior. “In the case of Legends, it’s not essentially about profitable the trophy. It’s nearly (placing) your coronary heart out on stage.”