Monika Rao said when she moved from Los Angeles to Austin for her M.B.A. in 2023, she felt a “dance-shaped hole in her heart.” Struggling to fill it, Rao realized Austin could use more of a Bollywood dance scene outside of Texas Mohini, UT’s Bollywood dance team. After reconnecting with her childhood friend Anushka Bhatia, who was a part of Texas Mohini from 2013-2016, Rao met Bhavya Bhalla, also a former Texas Mohini member. The three came together to create bollyflow, an Austin-based Bollywood dance company.
Bollyflow will perform at South by Southwest for a third year in a row at the South Asian House Soundvilla showcase on March 13. The Daily Texan sat down with two of the co-founders, Rao and Bhalla, to discuss their upcoming performance.
The Daily Texan: How did bollyflow come about?
Bhalla: It’s hard to grow up dancing. It’s hard to be in a collegiate dance team — which almost felt like a full time job in college — to then just not (have) that outlet at all and only having that outlet be exercised at people’s weddings.
… We all had a very similar vision. We all have a very similar style. We’re all very similar in terms of age and our experience and the people we know. So I think it just came together really beautifully. The other thing is that we realized we are all very different people, and (we’re) very different creatively. We knew that it was going to be a good partnership.
DT: Where did the name ‘bollyflow’ come from?
Bhalla: We wanted to represent ourselves, where we’re Indian American, we’re fusion. Yes, we have this as a part of us, but we also want to be very approachable because we want to bring South Asian culture to everybody, not just other South Asian people.
DT: What can the audience expect from your show at SXSW this year?
Rao: A lot of hype, a lot of excitement. I feel like (the) dance element to the music makes it a lot more … visually exciting for the audience members, as well.
Bhalla: (There are) different styles you’ll get to see because we’re performing with different artists. Each of them have their own vibe, and because we also have different backgrounds in dance, (we) really have been able to sort of mold into our own style. You’ll see a lot of that fusion coming together.
DT: What’s next in the cards for bollyflow?
Rao: (We’re) really trying to reframe ourselves as more of this entertainment company, versus just a dance company … We want to throw more bollyflow events around Austin, maybe even around Texas, to celebrate our culture.
Bhalla: … We see a lot of need in the community for more regular classes. People are more interested, in general, for just coming and moving, … learning Bollywood dancing, not so much in a performance aspect. … (Dancing is) just something that excites them.
