About Us
Duke Ishq is a Bollywood/Hip Hop non-competitive dance group that aims to foster open learning and exploration of Indian dance styles and culture via performances at local events and Duke showcases. Duke Ishq hopes to provide dancers that want to participate in Bollywood and Hip-Hop dance with a non-competitive option that has a lower time and energy commitment than competitive Bollywood teams currently on Duke’s campus. Duke Ishq also features non-selective components to give any student across campus the ability to take part in Ishq practices. Our mission is to prioritize art and expression above all in our operations. To elaborate, Duke Ishq’s membership will be comprised of two main components: attendees and the performance group. Attendees consist of anyone who attends Ishq’s open practices, which will take place twice a month. This is the non-selective aspect of the group, as it is open to anyone, and attendees will still be immersed in the Ishq community. The second component of Ishq’s membership is the performance group, which are those who have auditioned at the beginning of each semester (fall and spring) to perform on stage for Ishq. These performances will include our showcase (which will take place once a year in the spring semester), and performances we are invited to (ie: Fall Showcase, Diya’s Awaaz, and HSA Diwali). Our performance group would consist of roughly 40 members. By providing both of these membership components, we are proud to give anyone the opportunity to come dance with Ishq, while also giving students something to strive towards if they are interested in one day performing, and limiting performance numbers. To elaborate on what non-competitive means in this context, Ishq will not be a part of any national dance circuits (ie: Desi Dance Network) in which groups travel and compete against each other. Rather, Ishq will only perform at local Duke dance showcases. Ishq’s purpose also incorporates providing Duke’s campus with a dance group that focuses on the Bollywood dance style specifically. "Bollywood" is used as an umbrella term for all Indian dance styles, but there is also a specific Bollywood/Indian dance style called Bollywood. Another existing dance group does all Indian dance styles (using the umbrella term Bollywood), while Ishq does solely Bollywood style of dance (using the specific term Bollywood). This is a nuance with the word Bollywood that may not be as well-known to those who are not familiar with it.
