LUU experience- Joining a society

Being a trained Indian classical dancer, what I was missing the most after arriving in Leeds were my dance classes. Back at home, where I was a student learning the dance form Kuchipudi, the dance sessions had not just become a part of my daily routine but also a regular source of positivity. As I was looking through the list of societies I could join, I got attracted to VIBES as it was the only society that focused on Bollywood dancing, a style I love.

VIBES is one of the most successful societies in the University of Leeds with many accolades to its credits. The team leading the society are some of the nicest people who were very friendly and supremely talented. Over the years, VIBES has participated in numerous dance competitions across the UK and won several titles.

We had out first virtual Give-It-A-Go (GIAG) on 27th September, 2020 where I got to meet the amazing team that was heading VIBES. We played a friendly round of games, involving charades, Bollywood songs and discussed how the year changed everything for the society.

Over the next few days, we practiced many forms of dances- from freestyle, semi-classical, hip hop and disco. We had open classes where we met fellow new members as well as people who wanted to try out what the society has in store for them.

At the same time, some of dancers in the society (including me) started preparing for the prestigious Just Bollywood (JB) 2020 dance competition. Unfortunately, with the announcement of lockdown in the UK and the restrictions that followed, the competition was cancelled this year, bringing all our handwork to a halt. But we were  soon back to our grilling sessions, as we had more open classes and masterclass sessions with world famous dancers from NBC’s World of Dance Season 3 winners, Kings United India and Hip Hop International India 2017 gold medallist, The Veterans.

Even though this year has been a challenging one for all of us, joining VIBES has been one of the most exciting experience for me. Not only have I learnt new dance styles but performing and being a part of a society like VIBES has acted like a stress buster, at a time like this. For every dance lover out there, I think you should definitely give VIBES a try. You will have the best time, with the most amazing team of people and will be a master of the coolest moves in town.

Feel free to email me if you have any questions. 🙂