Catie Cook: Immersion

Catie Cook

Catie Bhangra

Name: Catie Cook

Year: Junior

Major: Healthcare Management

Hometown: Evansville, IN

Dance History: ballet, bhangra

Catie Cook has been dancing since high school and has always been looking for a challenge when it comes to dance. Prior to coming to Indiana University, Catie practiced ballet for about four and a half years. She did ballet because she “didn’t think it be fun but it seemed like a challenge and [she] liked that”. For the very same reason, Catie decided to join HooSher Bhangra when she came to IU. As a result, a hoard of new cultural opportunities were presented to her. Catie says that she would not describe herself as bicultural, but she would consider herself an American with German influence. On campus, Catie says that her identity mainly consists of SPEA and bhangra. Because of bhangra, she is around Indian people more now than ever before, and it has allowed her to “eat their food, watch their movies, go to events like Holi and Diwali”, things that she had never experienced before coming to IU. As a result of bhangra, she has completely immersed herself in a culture so unique from her own. She attributes this to the ability for dance to bridge gaps between different people.