Alvin ISD student joins Indian classical dance group on Europe tour
Junior year of high school is tough enough with college prep, but an Alvin ISD student is gracefully dancing her way through it all.
Tanya Mahesh, a junior at Shadow Creek High School, went on a two-week journey to Europe with eight other dancers the Sugar Land-based Anjali Dance Company to showcase Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance form.
“When we got this opportunity, I was blown out of my mind because every other girl in the senior group had done their arangetram, but mine got cancelled because of COVID, so this was the next best thing,” Mahesh said.
An arangetram refers to a Bharatanatyam dancer’s debut performance that marks the completion of their training. Other dancers, like Tanya, who weren’t able to perform at an arangetram were given seniority because of their advanced level, said Rathna Kumar, the company’s art director.
The company is spearheaded by Kumar who began her classical dance training when she was 4 years old in India and began teaching in the Houston area 48 years ago after moving to the U.S.
“It was a bit of a culture shock when I first came (to the U.S.),” Kumar said. “It took me a few years to get the hang of it, how to teach and how to behave with these kids. I really had to bend the rules a little bit, but I’m happy I did what I did at that time.”
Kumar’s connections in her homeland of India led to an invitation to perform at The World Festival of Indian Dance in Acropolis, Athens in Greece hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s International Dance Council. The festival included dancers from dozens of countries at the Dora Stratou Dance Theater.
As part of the tour, the company’s dancers were also invited to perform the classical dance for audiences in Hamburg, Berlin and Amsterdam, including the countries’ consul generals.
The tour included stops in Germany, the Tagore Center in Berlin, the Indian Consulate in Hamburg, Amsterdam and Athens.
Anu Mahesh, Tanya’s mother, enrolled her into Bharatanatyam classes and began dancing when she was 4 years old with Kumar as her guru.
“As a parent, we always worry if we’re passing our culture onto (our children),” said Anu. “We do a little at home, but I feel like dance really brings all that together.”
Bharatanatyam helped in teaching different Indian dance forms and cultures, otherwise not learned in school, Tanya said.
“In this dance company, we have so many different cultures but dance is a universal language” she said. “We can all emote the same way and understand what to do with moves and what techniques to use. It’s a place where we all have a mutual understanding.”