Emory Takes Home Win at Aaj Ka Dhamaka Dance Contest

Performers from Duke University, N.C. State University, the University of South Carolina and Emory competed in Aaj Ka Dhamaka, the fourth annual intercollegiate dance competition whose name means "today's excitement."

UNC students performed for a packed Memorial Hall but were ineligible to compete for the $1,000 grand prize because UNC was the host school, said Abha Shah, co-chairwoman of Aaj Ka Dhamaka. Five judges rated the performances on a scale of 50 points in three categories, and the grand prize was awarded to the performance with the most points.

Emory students won the categories for film and bhangra, a Southeast Asian folk dance, and students from Duke won the vocal category. Emory's bhangra team won the grand prize.

Proceeds from the competition will fund the Mahatma Gandhi Fellowship, which gives two students in the Triangle each year up to $3,000 each for summer internships or research projects that will benefit Southeast Asians, said Daisy Patel, co-director of the fellowship.

The fellowship, which two students founded in 1998, is open to any returning student at a university in the Triangle, Patel said. Past fellows have all come from Duke and UNC, but officials are trying to encourage students from other area universities to apply, said Suma Bhat, co-director of the fellowship.

Pavithra Vasudevan, a junior at Duke, traveled to India last summer to work on women's issues and make a documentary on the subject.

She said the experience not only helped her connect to the social actions of the area, it also taught her how to run an organization better. "I was already planning to go to India when I heard about the fellowship, but I was having a hard time paying for it," Vasudevan said.

Vasudevan said one of the best aspects of the fellowship was its flexibility. She had originally planned to study female infanticide but changed her plans when she arrived in India.

Other fellows have done projects that include teaching proper hygiene to mine workers and traveling throughout India to educate citizens about AIDS prevention, Bhat said.

"What you can do is really broad -- it's a really flexible type of fellowship," Bhat said. "I think it's an amazing fellowship because it's the only one of its kind, and it's open to any returning student in the Triangle."

The fellowship was created four years ago and immediately began funding fellows without first establishing its $125,000 endowment. Therefore, officials must raise funds for the endowment and current projects, Bhat said.

Profits from ticket sales from Saturday's event have not yet been totaled, but Bhat said she hopes it will be enough to fund both of this year's fellows.

Patel said fund-raisers like Aaj Ka Dhamaka serve the purpose of raising both funds and community awareness.

"We're stepping up the campaign to increase awareness on campus and around the Triangle area."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.