With stiff competition, cash prizes and teams across the country, Bollywood Fusion dance has become nothing short of a national sport, emerging as a mainstay on campus since the first Bollywood America competition in 2010. Brimming with collegiate talent, students at the University have made their mark on the scene. 

Bollywood Fusion takes competitive shape at the University through UIUC Fizaa, which utilizes hip hop, bhangra, bharatanatyam and kuthu dance. Each year, Fizaa choreographs a themed 10-minute set using these styles, which they bring to competitions against other schools. 

“When I auditioned, I was just still kind of scared,” said Ali Rehmani, junior in AHS and one of three Fizaa choreographers.

Rehmani and Sai Swaroop, senior in FAA and Fizaa co-captain, both had their first experience with competitive dance after trying out for Fizaa in 2023.

“I didn’t know if I was gonna make it or not, and then finally me and (Swaroop) made it together; we were very happy,” Rehmani said. “Then, he was one of my only friends on the team.”

Reflecting on his freshman year, Rehmani recalled a period of adjustment, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome.

“Sooner or later, about that second week, everything starts clicking,” Rehmani said. “You kind of understand the process, you understand the hours, you talk to more people.”

Those hours take the form of three-hour practices, three days a week — and that’s just in the fall before the season really ramps up. 

Practices are typically in the evenings when classes are not in session, starting from 7 or 8 p.m. and running well into the night. Then, according to Rehmani, the practices start to elongate in the spring as the set comes to life. 

“It’s essentially a part of your whole year at school,” Rehmani said.

Not only do dancers have to balance their time, but they also have to be mindful of their health. 

“Practices are so rigorous that injuries are very prone, you’re gonna have an injury,” Swaroop said. “We had so many injuries this past year, including me.”

If the practice and strain pay off, and teams are able to make a podium finish in their earlier competitions, they have an opportunity to reach Legends, the brightest stage in Bollywood Fusion.

Legends is an annual competition hosted by the Desi Dance Network featuring the top-10 teams from around the country that year. The 2025 event in Charlotte, North Carolina, saw Fizaa beat out Duke Rhydhun by a fraction of a point to finish fourth.

Last year’s top-five finish marks the fruition of an enduring year, but it’s not a schedule everyone wants to endure. For students interested in a less grueling opportunity, the University is also home to more casual dance opportunities, such as the Ghungroo Dance Company, a noncompetitive Bollywood Fusion team. 

“I wanted to do something more chill, but I still wanted to dance,” said Renatta Jacob, senior in AHS and president of GDC. 

While Fizaa performs across the country, GDC stays on campus, contributing to events including India Night and Diwali before capping off the year with its own showcase. But even without the competitive aspect, practices and performances still create a strong team bond.

“Just because of how many practices we have together and how many hours we spend together … that is what keeps us together,” Jacob said. 

For prospective dancers, this creates a big decision: to try out for the competitive team in hopes of reaching the national stage, or to enjoy their hobby in a lower-stakes environment that still creates lasting bonds. 

The decision has the potential to weigh heavily, but for those like Saloni Roy, freshman in LAS, the choice couldn’t have been clearer. 

Roy began dancing by the time she was four years old. Her mother was a choreographer and would test out her work with her daughter to see how it would play out.

“After playing that out for a little bit, I started to realize that I really enjoyed dancing and it became one of the most important things I did in my day-to-day life,” Roy said. “It became just something that I relied on a lot for comfort, for peace, or anything like that.”

Despite dance being a source of comfort for Roy, most would find the things she values most in dance unnerving.  

“I like performing,” Roy said. “I like being in front of the stage and having people tell me what I’m doing wrong and what I can improve on because I think dancing is such a fluid motion.” 

Out of the 50 applicants for the Fall 2025 Fizaa tryouts, Roy is one of the 20 who made the team. 

A higher-than-usual number of graduating team members opened up spots for fresh faces, whom Rehmani and Swaroop like to call “newbies.” Roy, among them, is eager to soak it all in.

“I kind of just like standing a little bit more towards the back, really observing when the older members do the dance routines and when I’m doing it myself,” Roy said.

For Roy, the outlook for the upcoming year is one of improvement, technical ability and the start of what she hopes will be a four-year journey. But for older members of the team, the lens of experience creates a different picture. 

“I think after you graduate and you have a corporate job and stuff, it’s always hard to make time, especially competitive dance — that’s a huge chunk of your day,” Swaroop said. “It kind of makes me sad that I’ll be leaving, but we still have a whole year to go.”

Whether the team is competitive or not, one aspect of dance remains especially constant: the community. 

In the fall, Fizaa tries to meet outside of practice to help foster the social side of the team, helping create the necessary bonds that will get them through an intense spring of practice and performance.

Freshmen like Roy enter Bollywood Fusion at the University looking for the opportunity to dance. But many, including Swaroop, Rehmani and Jacob, find something bigger.

“I feel like a lot of us got close together last year, more than just dance,” Jacob said. “We also become like family.”

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