Determined to make her last International Nite (I-Nite) the best one yet, Bhavana Channavajjala has been working extremely hard with her fellow choreographers, Sruthi Kodali and Ananya Suri, to create an exciting Namaste Senior Girls performance. The performance is a combination of many different dance styles, including Bollywood, Bhangra, Contemporary, Hip Hop, and Classical Fusion into one dance.

Background:
Channavajjala has been doing classical Indian dance for 14 years and has also been part of Jefferson’s dance team since sophomore year. Namaste has been a major part of Channavajjala’s life since freshman year. She has been in Underclassmen Classical Fusion for the past three years and even choreographed the performance her junior year. She has also been a part of Namaste couples for the past two years and will be part of the performance this year as well.

Current Activities:
Channavajjala is currently the historian of Namaste and one of the choreographers for the Senior Girls performance.

Q-and-A: On Jan. 15, tjTODAY interviewed Channavajjala for choreographing Namaste Senior Girls for I-Nite.

Q: Do you have any previous dance experience?
A: I have 14 years of Kuchipudi (Indian Classical Dance) experience and I started learning jazz and lyrical in ninth grade.

Q: Why did you join Namaste?
A: I joined Namaste because I heard it was a lot of fun and that there was a lot of dancing especially during I-Nite time, so I really wanted to be a part of it.

Q: How are Senior Girls practices going so far?
A: Senior girls practices just started and they are going really well. We’ve had a lot of people show up and we’ve already gotten a lot done, so we’re really excited.

Q: How are you feeling about this being your last I-Nite?
A: I am pretty sad that this is my last I-Nite, but I’m also really happy that I’ve gotten to be a part of five wonderful shows in the past three years. This time of year is always a lot of fun because there are so many practice to look forward to, and that’s something I’ll miss next year, but I’m definitely planning on making this I-Nite the best one yet.

Q: What are your plans for Senior Girls?
A: Without revealing too much, I will say that we have some cool stuff planned in terms of choreography and song choice. But more than anything we plan on making this senior girls one to remember for all the girls of 2016.

Q: Have there been any setbacks that you are working to fix?
A: January is typically a hard month because the end of the semester is approaching and workloads tend to increase, so finding time to choreograph and organize the whole act has been a bit hard, but we’ve been able to balance everything so far and hopefully we will be less stressed in the coming months.

Q: What is your favorite part about the Senior Girls performance? About Namaste in general?
A: My favorite part of Senior Girls is being able to incorporate so many different dance styles into one performance. I love Namaste because it’s the perfect place to have fun and relax with a great group of people at the end of the week.

Q: How is the preparation for I-Nite going as a club officer?
A: It’s going well and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone’s acts.

Q: Do you plan to pursue dance in the future?
A: Yes I do. I would definitely like to continue learning and performing different dance forms for as long as possible.