Fizaa, a student-run dance team and registered student organization, qualified for the Bollywood America National Competition on March 17 by placing first at a dance competition in Evanston. Fizaa’s victory adds to a streak of well-received performances at competitions over the past year.

Aside from their win in Evanston, Fizaa won a competition in Los Angeles a week earlier and placed second at another in New York City in November. Their next stop will be in Philadelphia on April 21 at the national championship, where they will compete against nine other teams.

Jyoti Mishra, Fizaa president and senior in AHS, said the 20 members of the group — including seven freshmen — have taken advantage of their nine hours of weekly training and ultimately, exceeded their expectations.

“We had never done as well before,” Mishra said. “We put a lot of hard work into our practices and performances. To see us win so much, including back-to-back (weekend performances), is very rewarding.”

According to the Bollywood America website, each competing team must have won a qualifying competition chosen by the Bollywood America organization in order to qualify to receive an invitational bid. There are also two other “wild card” teams selected by the organization based on their performances at past competitions.

Collegiate, independent, professional and dance school teams were eligible to participate in these qualifying competitions.

Vishal Vazirani, freshman in LAS, said with the raised stakes of a national title, those nine-hour practice weeks will be a thing of the past. He said 30 hours is a very likely possibility — maybe even longer.

“I am nervous but definitely excited,” Vazirani said. “As a freshman, to see us going through Bollywood America is really exciting.”

Another excited Fizaa member is Mishra’s younger brother Samir, freshman in engineering. Samir, who has always been interested in Bollywood dancing, said his sister was the one who got him involved with the group. As for any sibling rivalry, he said there is some bickering, but that is to be expected from brothers and sisters.

“We’ll have our arguments sometimes, but we do have a lot of fun,” Samir said. “We help each other out a lot.”

The older Mishra, who won best female dancer at the 2011 national championship, said she is looking forward to challenging other worthy teams on a bigger stage. She said they will have to learn more dance moves, but everyone seems excited about the challenge.

“I remember my freshman year we couldn’t have gotten into any of these big shows,” Mishra said. “Some of the best teams will be there, so for us to win this year and have a better chance of winning is pretty amazing.”

Fizaa was founded in 2008 to promote Indian culture through various forms of dance. Along with that, the nonprofit organization also aims at being nationally competitive, Mishra said.