Texas Mohini has courage, hair flips and energy inside their DNA—or at least that’s what they chant before every performance. Dancing under intense competition stages across America, Texas Mohini, UT’s oldest all-girls Bollywood fusion team, declares itself as a creative front of female empowerment and cultural identity.
Founded in 2006, Texas Mohini became the UT’s first all-girls team to compete in the Desi Dance Network—a collegiate championship circuit comprised of more than 100 dance teams throughout North America. Their choreography blends classical Indian dance forms with hip-hop and contemporary, capturing the versatility of South Asian dance while pushing themselves physically and artistically.
In the spring semester, they competed at the national level for the first time at the Legends Dance Championship and placed third as the only all-girls team in the top 10.
“In the circuit, it’s not the most favorable to all-girl teams,” said team captain Anshu Lakshman, a senior economics major. “But last year, us going to the championship for the first time, it was inherently impactful for us, and we’ve also heard that it was impactful for all the other girls’ teams in the circuit.”
Following the success, co-captain and senior pre-med student Shreia Sundar hopes to keep the team on an upward trajectory. This year’s about proving their staying power.
“There’s a huge trend of teams that go to Legends for the first time burning out after that year and falling off,” Sundar said. “Our main goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen with our team.”
Placing at Legends is not simple, nor is getting there or to the competitions that come before it. Each production packs in moving set pieces, costume changes, and sound mixes that weave cinematic plotlines into a performance with at least five songs. The group has to build the set pieces up, perform a 10-minute set, break the pieces down and then travel by bus to the next competition.
“Bringing all our ideas back to life on stage is probably one of the hardest parts,” said Pari Agarwal, a junior marketing major and Mohini’s social media chair. “Translating it from practice and the vision that we have to exactly what we want in front of an audience and on television is not easy.”
Preparing for competitions pushes the women to practice up to 12 hours a week, but their proximity and competitive spirit bring the team together and foster relationships that stay alive beyond practice. The team makes sure to prioritize community outreach and uplifting each other’s careers and mental health, even traveling together and helping teammates get jobs.
“Our team wants to be successful. So we use that to motivate them,” Lakshman said. ”At the end of the day, if you’re spending this much time in practice and you’re spending a lot of your personal time, you don’t want it to be for nothing.”
The team’s camaraderie and cultural pride start at the first practice and stay with its dancers after graduation. Alumni often return to competitions to see the rookies and give pep talks before showtime. The captains rely on past wisdom to build up their current community and encourage the team to give it their all on stage.
“It felt like they were performing there with us,” Lakshman said.
Despite outside pressure to include boys or westernize their routines, Texas Mohini sticks to classical moves that reflect their childhood roots.
“Being all girls, most of our roots come from Kathak and Bharatnatyam,” Sundar said. “Showcasing that through our set is something we love doing.”
For Texas Mohini, the stage is less a competition platform and more a canvas for representation and resilience. Every hair flip, every thumka is a signal of empowerment and a reminder that all-girls groups belong on stage. On campus, the feminine South Asian spirit remains alive and thriving.
“I think that is our main message,” Agarwal said. “Every single time we go on stage.”
>> Heyyyy! My first story for the Daily Texan. This is the original, unedited version.
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