NYU is home to over 400 clubs and organizations, including multicultural dance teams that are rich in tradition and culture, but not often highlighted. Spanning from East Asian and Desi-fusion styles to African traditions, NYU offers a variety of opportunities for students to grow as dancers, find community and raise awareness for their respective traditions.
Asian Fusion Dance is a dance team that incorporates a variety of styles like ballet and jazz into the vast array of traditional Chinese dance styles. With 56 different ethnic groups in China, there are specific movements such as hand motions, as well as props and costumes that represent different ethnic groups.
AFD works to incorporate as many techniques as possible. Last semester, AFD focused on a dance using umbrellas, which is a tradition in the Dai ethnic group. They’re currently working on a dance which incorporates palm fans, which originates from the Hani minority group from Yunnan, China.
“Chinese dance has such a long history, and it’s very special in its art form and in the way that it’s practiced,” Saranna Zhang, CAS senior and the president and co-artistic director of AFD, said. “But because we’re able to do it in our own capacity, we also modernize it a bit, and make it more accessible to people.”
For Zhang, AFD represents an inclusive community that supports all skill levels. They create a space that welcomes experimentation and promotes their open-membership philosophy. Since it was founded, the team has been open to all skill levels.
“The whole point of our club is to share Chinese dance and our culture,” Zhang said. “We never wanted it to be an exclusive group.”
The E.L.I.T.E Steppers also prioritize bringing their culture to a stage where audience members can feel the love and appreciation the team has for not only the technique, but also the ancestral heritage that comes along with it.
“Stepping is very heavy in Black culture,” Bella Bucknor, CAS senior and captain of the E.L.I.T.E Steppers, said. “It goes back to our roots, using our bodies to move with sounds and beats.”
Step is a form of dance that combines African folk traditions with pop culture. It was first popularized by historically African American fraternities and sororities. The dance style is rhythmic and requires passion and intention, ensuring synchronicity to match the beats of the music with clapping and stomping.
Bucknor rebuilt the step team after COVID-19 as a first-year, rebranding the team to “the E.L.I.T.E. Steppers” after its five core values: empathy, lasting impact, integrity, togetherness and excellence. In doing this, Bucknor preserved what the step team was before COVID-19, while also enhancing its purpose and building a community that all members value.
“When you watch us, you’re watching a sisterhood and a brotherhood of people who came together off of the basis of wanting to find a space where they belong,” Bucknor said.
Most of the team members have a background in step or general dance, but many come inexperienced.
“[The team] has given me a space to grow as a dancer in a different way, and I think it’s given me another level of confidence. You have to be very strong and have no hesitation,” N’Jeri Marner, Stern senior on the E.L.I.T.E. Steppers, said.
These dance teams also help students to build a community outside of NYU. NYU Dillagi consistently competes across the country in a circuit called the Desi Dance Network, which is composed of over 150 collegiate South Asian dance teams. Students who join Dillagi range in dance backgrounds and experience, but all are passionate about learning and competing.
“It’s really cool to me, because [competitive dancing] is something that I’ve been watching for a long time,” Ishaan Sharma, a Stern first-year Dillagi member, said. “I’ve never learned at this capacity until now.”
Dillagi incorporates hip-hop and lyrical dance styles, but also teaches more technical South Asian styles such as Bhangra, from the Punjab region. Characterized by energetic and vibrant movements, Bhangra is often fused with Western music and associated with Bollywood dance. Dillagi also explores classical styles such as Bharatanatyam and Kathak, which represent traditional dance that model a more technical skill.
“A lot of kids coming in, they don’t really know how to do Bhangra very well because it’s technically difficult,” sophomore and Dillagi captain Siya Jain said. “We go over those basics and teach it to them.”
For many of the members of Dillagi, it’s their first opportunity to explore new South Asian dance styles.
Nadiya Naehr, a Tisch first-year member, shared how there were little to no opportunities to explore fusion dance at her high school. “It felt pretty isolating, so coming here and joining Dillagi, it’s been very nice learning together.”
Dillagi, like the E.L.I.T.E Steppers and AFD, fosters a tight-knit community and strives to bring cultural tradition to the stage. These multicultural dance teams, among others at NYU, focus on inclusivity and emphasize the importance of support and connection with people of similar cultural backgrounds and passions.
However, these clubs sometimes struggle to find support from university administration in regards to getting adequate access to rehearsal and performance spaces. There is only one dance rehearsal room located on the sixth floor of the Kimmel Center for Student Life, which Zhang says “we always have to battle [for].” Due to the open nature of AFD and the small size of the room, it can be difficult to accommodate all interested participants.
In spite of this, members of these dance teams find joy in these organizations. “I see this team as an opportunity not only to socialize and connect with the community, but also with my cultural connection,” Naehr said.
Contact Paige Ablon at [email protected].