MIDWEST DHAMAKA: The UNC Takeover

Disclaimer: All Photography (Except "The Captain's Room" Photograph) Via Varun Joshi & Abin Thomas

The Beginning

It is Friday morning competition weekend has finally arrived; I had just woken up seeing a flurry of text messages in multiple group chats. With about two and a half hours before being picked up to go to the Hyatt, I got some snacks and items for our liaison group; and our team UNC Chalkaa. Afterward, I decided to hype myself up with some music to loosen up before the exciting chaos unfolded. You're probably expecting songs along the lines of Sicko Mode, Humble, No Role Modelz, or God’s Plan. Nope. It ended up being songs like Dil to Pagal Hai, Chaleya, Tum Hi Ho, and Ye Ladka Hai Allah.

After getting to Hyatt, where all teams are staying, I met up with the rest of our liaison group, so we could decorate the captain's room. This wasn't your ordinary liaison room decoration; we had printed out some pictures out of the MD x UNC group chat to be placed on the room windows; and even placed two or three in the bathroom for extra humor. For pre-competition laughs I had been sending a few custom memes over the past few weeks, so our group could get those early good vibes going with the rest of the team. A few of those memes ended up being part of room décor. The finished product of the room would look nothing short of amazing!

Liaison Group

Our liaison group hosting UNC Chalkaa brought a diverse cast of characters. Dillon Patel, a great leader, will also be an MC for the MD show. He got the nickname “Mechanical Cat” for this position. Anushka Maharana, a dancer from UC Dhadak, will also be exhibiting for Dhadak at the MD Show. Neha Rokkam, a dedicated liaison, and another great leader for our team. A few weeks prior we had created our liaison hype video for UNC. The concept was that 3/4 of us would collapse if we watched the wrong DDN highlights, and whoever chose the right highlights to watch (UNC Chalkaa), would be perfectly fine. This was a fire video I enjoyed making with the rest of the team.

Liaison Life

If you are a liaison for a Midwest Dhamaka or any DDN dance competition, you will be given a big responsibility to successfully manage a team during competition weekend with your fellow liaisons. You will be asked a lot of questions by your team. At times someone will usually have to find some food, medicine, or supplies. Fortunately, MD has done its best to make life easier for liaisons. You can contact certain committees for a specific need or questions you have, and they will have an answer or at least lead you in the right direction. This is partly why MD has earned its reputation of being a well-run competition. Shoutout to MD co-directors Aanika Garre and Nikita Morjaria!

Some Chaos

On Friday afternoon, I was on lunch break and all liaisons were having Nawab, catered in by Midwest. Unfortunately, after a couple of bites, I spilled some Nawad on my left shoe. So, I spent the next couple of minutes cleaning up. Afterward, I did not go searching for a new box, as time for us was moving at a fast pace. I had also recently started a bad habit of mine where I would not be eating enough food. Usually, my days get short so I will sometimes sacrifice some meals to get work done. I knew even going into the comp with Midwest and their great MBM, I would do something similar. This is because if someone needed something I wanted to be there. Water would be my pal though. The mixer is drawing near.

Mixer

The mixer would start at 7 PM at Nippert West Pavilion. The mixer would be run by social chairs Shiv Patel, Dhruv Mistry, and Kshitij Chaudhary. What is a mixer? Mixer is the event before teams compete against each other at the competition the next day. It is a way for dancers from other teams to interact with each other and be teammates rather than opponents for a night. A plethora of games are played and depending on which competition you go to the feedback can vary. Some dancers like mixers as a way to stay loose, have fun, and feel no pressure since it does not mean anything for the actual competition. There is the exception of finding out the show order in which teams perform of course. Some dancers feel mixers cause anxiety and stress about the actual competition. There are even dancers who deem this event unnecessary altogether. In my opinion, I would consider this event to be the most polarizing during the competition weekend.

Our head liaison Adi Shivakumar has a favorite aspect of mixer. The dance battles between teams. Two dancers from each of the 8 teams participate against each other. I can relate to doing something somewhat similar not too long ago. A few weeks earlier NSU Maasti liaison Indranshu Das and I had our little dance battle against MD philanthropy chair Shloka Nair and MD safety & wellness chair Somya Sharma at Mock Sangeet. Mock Sangeet is a mock pre-wedding celebration hosted by the South Asian American Student Association (SAASA) at our college. But returning to the mixer, one notable moment was dancers playing a deal or no deal-inspired game to determine show order. Aashvi Jain who is a captain for UNC would choose a case that ended up having the number 8 inside. This meant UNC Chalkaa would be performing last in the competition.

UNC Chalkaa Background

UNC Chalkaa had an impressive showing at Legends 2023 in front of their hometown fans in the Queen City of Charlotte last year. They looked to carry their momentum into the 2024 DDN season, having high expectations of more success. Their theme for this year will be Maleficent. Before they made their descent into Cincinnati, they first went to UGA India Night in Athens, Georgia, on February 3rd. I was at OSU for a different competition Buckeye Mela during this time, wondering if I should send more memes in the MD x UNC group chat soon. I also quickly hopped on a livestream for UGA awards and was glad to see they finished top 2, narrowly losing 1st to GT Qurbani. After leaving UIN, they arrived for Midwest Dhamaka a few days later on February 9th, with a desire to take over another queen city!

Post-Mixer Practice

We would all leave the mixer around 9 PM. All dance teams were starting practice at Clifton Court Hall. I also live under an insane rock like Patrick Star because I didn't know this building existed until we started having MD meetings here once the new year started. The night before competition day teams are working on perfecting their choreography for their performance. I found being a liaison you get behind-the-scenes access to how your team prepares for competition. I learned UNC Chalkaa took their practice very seriously. They had placed shoes on certain areas of the floor to mark the alignment of their set, making sure everyone would get to their designated spot.

There were occasionally funny moments too with dancers breaking character. In one instance before Maleficent (Diya Bhatt) revokes her curse, everyone is angled diagonally, and Aurora (Nandini Kanthi) is pointing forward towards her left. Normally, this would be towards the audience, but I just happened to be sitting right there at practice. I tried my best not to laugh, but I failed sadly. The Chalkaa Captains, Aashvi Jain, Diya Bhatt, and Priya Patel, did a great job making sure everyone was locked in during practice with anything involving technique, timing, and dedication being showcased. If they noticed anyone getting distracted or drifting off, they would quickly shut it down.

They were practicing a particular segment I found cool. It takes place right after Aurora (Nandini) is forbidden from seeing Maleficent (Diya) again. The lines are “The King locked Aurora up far away from Maleficent but in this very room was the cursed spindle.” There is a series of slow in-sync movements of dancers circling Aurora and you can hear their feet calmly hitting the ground. The Indian classical music in the background is peaceful yet very powerful. The weight of this segment reaches its climax just before Maleficent revokes her curse on Aurora.

The Chalkaa Dancers Circling Aurora (Nandini)

One dynamic a team performing at many competitions is familiar with is running into their friends or someone they know on opposing dance teams. I wouldn't know anyone and I haven't been in the shoes of a dancer. However, fellow liaison teammate and UC Dhadak dancer Anushka has, and can understand this. She got to chat with UNC Chalkaa dancer Jaineshaa Naheta at practice, dancer-to-dancer. This reminds me of one of those crossover episodes you see on television where one main character in their series meets another in a different show. All DDN dance teams have their own stories and plotlines back in their respective cities and campuses. So, during these dance competitions, dancers who have never heard of each other have an opportunity to talk about different practice dynamics, and competition life, and relate to one another.

Flashback

On April 14th, 2023, I went to DDN Legends with some of Midwest Dhamaka. I remember being at the Legends show with them and all of us had strong opinions about where certain teams should place after their performances. I remember a majority of us had OSU Origins placing first, including me. I was also trying to get my friends to quit sleeping on UTD Laksh, but sadly to no avail. Being around everyone I learned the perspective of a competition dance performance from a casual fan, team dancer, or someone immersed in this lifestyle will vary. However, for me if I leave asking myself “What did I just witness?” I know I just saw an insane performance. UNC Chalkaa also had a strong 4th place finish, with their theme of Pirates of the Caribbean. Also, the early beginning of their mix from Legends last year was so catchy, where it goes “Better shut it down, cause you know we poppin' off the most (act up),” “Boom ba di di da da da dadum.” Boom ba di di da da da dadum.

Competition Day

What is the biggest advantage of going last in the competition? Your liaison group can technically sleep in more since tech time would start later. Really? No, I am just kidding! It allows the audience to see the best performance for last. This competition will take place in the School of Performing Arts (SCPA). UNC went into stage rehearsal getting comfortable with where they were performing in the evening. Afterward in tech-time viewing their leaders discussed technical aspects they could improve on or put more force into. We would all go back to Hyatt. Later I would return to SCPA with UNC captain Diya for post-lighting cues. There I would be a test subject to make sure the lighting cues on stage were correct. I tried my best not to laugh while on stage. Although I couldn't contain myself sadly. This reminds me of a quote by Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen. “The lights were brighter than expected.” Media liaison Raiyaan (ray-yawn) Tariq also dared me to do the Shah Rukh Khan pose on stage and so I did. Afterward, Diya, I, and others from Chalkaa would return to Hyatt.

The competition is drawing closer. When we all got to SCPA all competing dance teams got their pictures taken. Midwest Dhamaka exec and liaisons also got their pictures taken. There was someone behind the fence facing toward us helping us take our pictures. He made sure we smiled so shoutout to him. Later, my fellow liaisons and I would escort the dancers to the balcony of SCPA, and soon the show would start. Midwest would play their hype video, legends video, exec video, and lineup video for the audience. Shortly after, Dillon would have an exciting opportunity of hyping up the crowd and MCing alongside Tanay Akolkar. They would go on to do a fantastic job. Dillon also did a good job of balancing his roles as UNC Chalkaa liaison and MC. Meanwhile, Anushka, Neha, and I would take on more responsibility with our fellow liaison showcasing his greatness elsewhere for a while. Shoutout to Dillon!

The competition would open with an explosive first performance by UGA Asura. Then, followed up by UW Kahaani, UCLA Naasha, and Purdue Kahaani. Going into intermission, Anushka, Neha and I would guide all of Chalkaa to the dressing room in preparation for their performances. Going out of intermission, Slu Shakti, NSU Maasti, and OSU Origins performed, saving UNC Chalkaa for last. What were the behind-the-scenes vibes? You have your pre-competition motivational speech. You have your stretching routine. You have UNC dancer Neil Auroni vlogging before performing. He has been vlogging throughout competition weekend savoring every moment. I hope I can help them savor their moment too. You have UNC dancer Aarini C. battling through a leg injury and ready to give a valiant effort on stage for her team. You also have UNC dancer Bobby Kodem. The vibes will for sure be great with him on your team. Shortly before Chalkaa performed, I told some of them that the audience would be shaken by their performance. Maleficent (Diya) also looked terrifying backstage with her staff in her hand. I saw her in character ready to unleash her devastating power on stage. This would be a foreshadowing for later. The spiritual pressure in SCPA is rising, their time has come.

Queen City Takeover

The MCs announced UGA Asura placing third followed by UCLA Naasha placing second. It would be poetic with MC and Chalkaa liaison Dillon announcing UNC placing 1st at MD! UNC would win other awards too, most dope dance segment (wings) and best dancer (Maleficent). Everyone was excited and celebrating this amazing accomplishment. They would captivate the hearts of members of the audience. Filled with excitement and enthusiasm about them Shreeya Patel, a student at the University of Cincinnati, would say Chalkaa was her favorite team of the night. Their 1st place finish further proved Neha indeed chose the right DDN highlights to watch, referencing our liaison hype video from earlier. On February 10th, UNC officially took over the Queen City of Cincinnati, OH.

Epilogue

After the show all competing dance teams would go back to Hyatt. They would get ready to dance the night away at Midwest Dhamaka’s after-party in Bogarts. On February 28th, Midwest Dhamaka had its final meeting. They're coming off a second straight successful competition post-coronavirus and seek continued success for the 2024-25 season. Thank you for having me these past two years! I enjoyed my time as social chair and liaison. On March 2nd, UNC Chalkaa would perform at Magic City Maza in Birmingham, Alabama where they would place 1st. They are hopeful for another opportunity to perform at Legends and dominate. Thank you for being the most dope team! On April 27th, I will be graduating from the University of Cincinnati. My time in Midwest Dhamaka is over sadly. I will hopefully return as a spectator here or for other DDN competitions. I might have dropped a gem, or I will end up on the Twitter account DDN Confessions (not affiliated with DDN). I just don't know. However, I do know I will finish this post listening to slowed-down versions of Tum Hi Ho, Guzarish, Chaleya, and Saiyaara.