With Oasis ‘24 just around the corner, the Oasis English Press met with Hasan Zareb, the Coordinator of the Dance Club (DC), to have a chat about their part in the fest.
Hasan explained that DC members performed four different dance forms — western, contemporary, semi-western, and folk. The folk and semi-western dance forms would be performed at the Inauguration Ceremony, while contemporary and western dancers would participate in the competitions held during the fest. He enumerated that the contemporary dance form entailed jazz, lyrical contemporary, and modern contemporary; while the western form included styles like hip-hop, house, and top rock. He added that the club would be participating in two competitions and organising two events: Streets, a western style dance competition; Choreo, a contemporary style dance competition; and Razzmatazz and Desert Duel respectively.
Furthermore, he elaborated that Razzmatazz, a legacy event, was a group competition in which universities across the country were invited to participate. The event hosted a mix of dance styles, including folk and classical. He added that Desert Duel was a solo dance competition with on-spot registrations. When asked about the chances of the club in Choreo and Streets, Hasan was not very optimistic and said that the participating colleges had rigorous practice sessions while BITS was ‘well an engineering college’.
Hasan denied the rumours that DC might not participate in Oasis and clarified that they did not plan on doing so but had kept it as a last resort. He expounded that DC had not received reimbursements for APOGEE ‘23 and wanted some reassurance that they would be compensated. He disclosed that they had put a lot of money towards the fest with some of it being out of their own pockets.
On his experience as the Coordinator, Hasan said that while it was a challenge to coordinate with a large number of groups, he was prepared for it. He shared that he had spoken with his seniors for guidance and his Joint Coordinator, Shambhavi, had also been a great help.