Northwestern’s all-female dance team Deeva fuses the old and new with traditional and modern South Asian dance. Part of Desi Dance Network Inc., Deeva is nationally recognized for its fusion-focused pieces, experimenting with styles like kuthu, bhangra and Odissi, as well as hip-hop and contemporary.

Throughout the year, Deeva participates in one to two competitions and performs on campus for events like the South Asian Students Alliance show.

This year, they competed at Purdue University in January for Nasha, Purdue’s premier Bollywood fusion and Garba-Raas dance competition, and traveled to Iowa in February to perform in Nachte Raho — the University of Iowa’s premier South Asian fusion dance competition. On Feb. 14, after performing eight pieces, Deeva was announced as the first-place winner of the competition.

Deeva Co-Captain and Weinberg senior Taera Kaka said she was surprised by their win.

“My initial thought was we could have placed second or third,” she said. “First was out of my scope of what I thought was possible. I was absolutely in shock and did not believe it. We screamed for about like a minute before anyone realized that we’re supposed to pick up the trophy, which was also funny.”

According to Kaka, this was Deeva’s first win since 2020.

As a new member, Weinberg first-year Nethra Pai said the team felt “a lot more relaxed” than they did in the previous competition. According to Pai, this calm and positive attitude is what helped the team climb to first place.

“For the captains, it’s their last competition, and they put in a lot of work,” she said. “So we were just like, ‘Let’s just have fun with it. Let’s put in our all and dance the best we can. But let’s make sure that we’re having fun with it.’”

During the academic year, Deeva dancers meet three times a week for two hours on a regular basis, adding more rehearsal times during competition season.

Deeva Co-Captain and Weinberg junior Sanjana Basava said the dancers make sure to have fun while rehearsing, which creates better group chemistry.

Basava recalled when the captains wrote personalized Valentine’s Day cards for everyone on the team to celebrate the holiday.

For Pai, Deeva is not just a dance club — it’s a meaningful community.

“College is a big change, so having something like this is really nice,” she said. “It gives me a group of friends that I wouldn’t have met otherwise; it gives me a group of people that I know have my back.”

While most dancers have previous experience in classical and modern South Asian dance, they often experiment in a variety of styles to choreograph fusion pieces.

According to Basava, Deeva’s annual spring show gives every member a chance to choreograph their own creative piece to perform in front of their friends and peers. For Basava and Kaka, the spring show is their favorite part of Deeva.

“It’s really nice to have a creative outlet that’s also challenging in itself,” she said. “You get to express a very different side of you. It’s a really cool experience, and I absolutely love the team and everyone on it.”

Email: [email protected] 

X: @ina_choe

Related Stories:

— Bollywood-fusion dance team Northwestern Deeva enhances cultural connectivity

— Captured: SASA highlights student performance groups with Festival of Lights

— SASA celebrates South Asian culture in ‘Crazy Rich Desis’ themed annual show