Naacho presents 'Ishq' choreographed with 'love' this weekend at Frist Theatre

Vibrant costumes will twirl, joyful music will play and 72 eager feet will dance on the stage of Frist Campus Center's Film and Performance Theatre from Thursday through Saturday as Naacho presents their second show, "Ishq." Naacho (Hindi for "Let's Dance") is Princeton's free-spirited Indian dance troupe, and "Ishq" is a Hindi word meaning "Love."

I arrived at a rehearsal for the show just in time to watch a run-through of the final company piece. It's no mean feat getting 36 people onstage without massive chaos, but Naacho seemed to manage it; everything was synchronized and there was nary a collision in sight.

One reason for the unusually large size of the company is that it doesn't hold tryouts; anyone interested is welcome to join, and the company includes a wide range of people. Another is last year's show, the five-year-old group's first.

"One girl joined last year because of her roommate," Shaoli Sarkar, one of six seniors in the group, said. "Her roommate left, but she's still here."

So why "Ishq"?

"We thought long and hard about the name," Sarkar said. "Listening to the pieces, we realized that the word 'Ishq' was in almost every song."

It also didn't hurt, she mentioned, that 'Ishq' is "fairly easy to pronounce." Love is a very common theme and one that unites Naacho's members.

"There is so much variety in this show, because all the different provinces of India have their own regional flavors," Sarkar said, listing some of the many types of dance, including fusion, modern, traditional and classical pieces, Naacho performs.

(Don't confuse Naacho with Princeton's Indian classical dance group, Kalaa — it holds auditions and is strictly focused on classical dance, which, like ballet, can require years of training.)

Perhaps "Love" is a fitting name for a show performed by such a tight-knit group. "We hang out all the time; we're really good friends," Sarkar said.

Preethi Ramchand, a freshman in the group, concurred.

"Naacho is a lot of fun and a great chance to get to know people," she said.

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Sarkar continued, "It's nice to see people on stage who look like they're having fun, not stressing out over having every move perfect, just having a great time."

Shouts of "So hot!" and "So good!" resonated throughout the theatre as the guys practiced their moves in a males-only piece.

I asked Ramchand to name her favorite piece, and she looked a bit pained at having to decide. She asked for Shaoli's help, laughed and finally said, "It's a piece called 'Oh My Darling' — a nice English name! It's upbeat, fun and a great groove; it's one of the reasons why this show is called Ishq."

But most importantly, she said, "It's Naacho cheese at its best!"