Raaz Huddle

Title: Raaz Huddle

General Information about Item:

  • Customary Folklore: Ritual, Tradition
  • English
  • USA

Informant Data:

  • Abhilasha Gokulan is 20 years old and was born in Saskatchewan, Canada. She grew up in Texas and is of Indian heritage. She is classically trained in Bharatnatyam and Odyssey, two types of classical Indian dance. She is a senior at Dartmouth College, studying economics and quantitative social science. She hopes to attend Law school.

Contextual Data:

  • Social Context

The huddle takes place with all members of the team who are present. Even if a member is not dancing in the performance, if they are present, they participate in the huddle. Often times if members who have graduated are present they also join the huddle. The huddle happens a few minutes before the team begins the performance. The informant believes the huddle has been a ritual since the team was created in 2011.

  • Cultural Context

Raaz’s culture is very inclusive and the huddle is a tradition that helps the team bond with each other. Raaz also prides itself on being a fun group, and hopes that members think of dance as a way to relax and the chant reflects this focus on fun.

Item:

Before performances, members of the team get together in a circle with their arms around each other. They sway back and forth and put one hand into the center of the circle. Sometimes a captain will give a pep talk, and other times there is no pep talk but the team proceeds to the chant. Someone (usually a captain) begins to chant “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz up!” and all of the members join in. On the words Raaz up all of the members raise their hands.

Associated file (a video, audio, or image file):

Informant’s Comments:

Informant is not sure where the actual chant originated from. She believes the chant has changed over time and started as “1, 2, 3, Raaz”, became “1, 2, 3, Raaz Up!”, “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz” and became “paneer, paneer, paneer, Raaz up!” this year. She believes the chant shows that the team is not strict or boring, but rather is a place for members to relax and have fun. She thinks the purpose of the chant is that often before performances people relax and get ready in different ways. Some people do not like thinking about dance at all. The huddle is a way to get everyone focused and bring them back to thinking about dance.

Collector’s Comments:

The huddle is a tradition that many performance groups have, but the chant Raaz uses is interesting. It is very lighthearted and seems to reflect the culture of the group.

Folklore Collector’s Name:

Shinar jain

Compiled/Analyzed by:

Sruthi Pasupuleti

Tags/Keywords:

  • Huddle
  • Team
  • Dance

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