Uphoria '24: Put your dancing shoes on
Times of Bennett | Updated: Mar 19, 2024 11:01
By Anoushka Saxena
Bennett University ’s annual cultural fest, Uphoria’24 kickstarted with students from different colleges appearing for a wide range of competitions. The university’s official western dance club, VERVE, organized three different dance competition s, Groove Wars, the western group dance competition, followed by the street dance battle, Freestyle Frenzy and a solo western dance competition, Beat Blitz on the last day of the fest, that is, the 17th of January.
Groove wars, an inter college group dance competition saw a huge number of dance groups from several colleges showcasing extraordinary vigor and passion through their group dynamics.
“All the teams have put in tremendous efforts into bringing about the best on stage. One of my favorite performances till now has to be that of Ramjas College. While it is too early to make an assumption about the winning team, what is certain is the fact that the audience is going to be left spellbound by the performances lined up in store for them, said Ishan Jain, one of the members of the Verve organizing committee.
The freestyle street dance off, Freestyle Frenzy was an amalgamation of both rhythm and creativity. The performers’ expressions, knowledge of beat, stage appearance and crowd response summed up the judging criteria for this street dance battle.
“I loved how the stage automatically lit up with the dancers’ energy. I was pleasantly surprised by the scale at which the competition was organized. Moreover, seeing everybody dance, I also felt inspired to pursue dancing again.” Said a BA-JMC 1st year student, Radhika Gupta, when asked about her take on the performances.
The prize pool for Groove Wars stood at INR 45,000 rupees. While it was INR 10,000 and INR 16,000 rupees for Beat Blitz and Freestyle Frenzy respectively.
The last dance competition for the day, Beat Blitz, allowed the participants to bring forth their story to the fore by taking the center stage, embracing diverse Western dance styles. The solo dance performances were infused with a vast range of emotions and got the audience tapping their feet and grooving with the performers alongside.
“I feel so happy judging such talented, budding dancers today and looking at how enthusiastic each performance is, it is becoming difficult for us to choose one person to be the winner for the day. Uphoria, as a fest itself is a treat for those visiting the university for the first time. As far as picking up the winners is concerned, we are still confused and wondering which team out of other energetic teams to handover the trophy to.” Said Mr Ankit Kumar, who was judging the group and solo dance competition.
While the declaration of winners is still awaited, the three competitions have certainly managed to give a push to young dancers to upskill and better their craft.
Groove wars, an inter college group dance competition saw a huge number of dance groups from several colleges showcasing extraordinary vigor and passion through their group dynamics.
“All the teams have put in tremendous efforts into bringing about the best on stage. One of my favorite performances till now has to be that of Ramjas College. While it is too early to make an assumption about the winning team, what is certain is the fact that the audience is going to be left spellbound by the performances lined up in store for them, said Ishan Jain, one of the members of the Verve organizing committee.
The freestyle street dance off, Freestyle Frenzy was an amalgamation of both rhythm and creativity. The performers’ expressions, knowledge of beat, stage appearance and crowd response summed up the judging criteria for this street dance battle.
“I loved how the stage automatically lit up with the dancers’ energy. I was pleasantly surprised by the scale at which the competition was organized. Moreover, seeing everybody dance, I also felt inspired to pursue dancing again.” Said a BA-JMC 1st year student, Radhika Gupta, when asked about her take on the performances.
The prize pool for Groove Wars stood at INR 45,000 rupees. While it was INR 10,000 and INR 16,000 rupees for Beat Blitz and Freestyle Frenzy respectively.
The last dance competition for the day, Beat Blitz, allowed the participants to bring forth their story to the fore by taking the center stage, embracing diverse Western dance styles. The solo dance performances were infused with a vast range of emotions and got the audience tapping their feet and grooving with the performers alongside.
“I feel so happy judging such talented, budding dancers today and looking at how enthusiastic each performance is, it is becoming difficult for us to choose one person to be the winner for the day. Uphoria, as a fest itself is a treat for those visiting the university for the first time. As far as picking up the winners is concerned, we are still confused and wondering which team out of other energetic teams to handover the trophy to.” Said Mr Ankit Kumar, who was judging the group and solo dance competition.
While the declaration of winners is still awaited, the three competitions have certainly managed to give a push to young dancers to upskill and better their craft.