Jason Koski/University Photography

Cornell Bhangra, in a file photo from the 2013 Pao Bhangra XII exhibition, will compete Aug. 12 on “America’s Got Talent.”

The students in Cornell Bhangra are used to competing in front of several hundred people. Tomorrow, they will perform for several million.

The student group will present its high-energy Punjabi dance in the quarterfinals of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” to be broadcast live Tuesday, Aug. 12, at 9 p.m. from Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The Cornell Bhangra team has the chance to win a $1 million prize in the contest. They performed on NBC’s “Today” show July 23 as part of the “Today’s Got Talent” competition, and on July 30, “Today” hosts Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie announced that the team won a slot in the prime-time competition. They perform in week three of the quarterfinals, in which viewers vote for contestants to advance in the contest.

“It is still hard for me to believe that we actually performed on national TV live,” said Ashley George ’16, Cornell Bhangra team member and public relations director. “The whole experience was so exciting. When we performed, all we felt was joy and thrill … we all had so much fun being ourselves and sharing our culture with the nation.”

Founded in 1997, Cornell Bhangra promotes awareness of Punjabi dance and culture in the community and in competitions across the nation. Bhangra, a folk dance from the state of Punjab in northern India and Pakistan, celebrates the arrival of spring and everyday cultural life in Punjab. The group’s annual Pao Bhangra show in April is the largest student-run show on campus as well as the largest Bhangra exhibition in North America.

During the school year, the team typically practices three times a week and puts in extra time in preparation for competitions, George said. The team has 25 members in all, and a group of 12 competes at once.

“We normally switch dancers in and out for competitions, and we also have performances on campus that our entire team participates on,” co-captain Armaan Kapoor ’15 said. “As for our performance at Radio City, we’ll be bringing a 90-second routine full of high-energy Bhangra, stunts, hip-hop and exciting music.”