06-29-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 46
Kaladhar Bejjanki owns the Yuva Dance Academy in Ellicott City
with his wife. The studio teaches modern Bollywood-style Indian
dances. PHOTOS BY KENNETH K. LAM
BY MIKE KLINGAMAN Howard Magazine
y day, he’s a software engineer. Come evening,
however, Kaladhar Bejjanki logs off his cuttingedge job and embraces an art form spawned ages
ago in his native India.
Dance is his fancy; preserving old customs, his forte.
“When the sun sets, the choreography begins,” said
Bejjanki, founder of Yuva Dance Academy in Ellicott City.
Opened in 2016, the studio numbers 130 students of all
ages, mostly children of Indian descent eager to learn
both the folkways of their forebears and the rituals deeply
connected to their ancestral roots.
Bejjanki and his staff of 12 lead students, ages 3 to 60,
through native dances ranging in style from classical to
folk, ancient dances that have been performed everywhere
from the palaces of monarchs to the streets of Mumbai.
“I have a passion for dance and the culture. That’s my
motivation,” said Bejjanki, 40. A native of Hyderabad, he
emigrated 18 years ago, having worked as a choreographer
there, and settled in Elkridge, where he lives with his wife
and two children. The burgeoning Indian population in
Howard County spurred him to set up a dance studio,
primarily for kids, whose families want them to embrace
the ethnology of their kin.
“Many people celebrate with dance in India; it’s a big
thing,” Bejjanki said. “Parents want their kids to know their
culture. When they see them sitting and playing video
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games, they want them to know those traditions before
they get lost.”
In Howard County, the Indian American population
numbers 23,313 of a total 334,529 residents — 7 percent
of the county’s residents — according to 2022 data from
its Department of Planning and Zoning. That’s the highest
total among all Asian Americans, followed by those of
Korean descent (15,183).
Come Sept. 16-17, the county’s Indian Cultural
Association will hold its 5th annual Festival of India at
the Howard County Fairgrounds. Last year’s one-day
event, featuring food, fashion and entertainment, drew
15,000 people. Colorful dance performances by Bejjanki’s
students, and the others mentioned here, are a highlight.
“Song and dance are intrinsic to Indian culture, which
first-generation immigrants want to preserve for their
kids,” said Niti Srivastava, executive director of the ICA.
“In olden days, and even now, people dance in temples.