06-29-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 48
“Indian dance is celebratory
and highly energetic.
Costumes are colorful
and shimmery. We also
use props, everything
from cymbals to clay pots
atop dancers’ heads in
some folk dances.”
— Kaladhar Bejjanki,
dance studio owner
The music is very foot-tapping; it gets kids
moving. Also, Indian songs tell stories, so it is
very compelling.”
While some instructors at the county’s
three Indian dance studios teach formal
Indian classical dance, which are largely
religious in nature, other opt for a mix of that
and more casual types, which appeal more to
children.
“It’s a free-flowing [mix] of many forms,”
Srivastava said. That includes “Bollywood”
(a combination of Hollywood and Bombay)
dancing, a popular if simplified genre seen
in the explosion of Hindi films. Bejjanki has
even fused hip hop into the choreography
for his students, who perform in competition
and at festivals, family events and recitals
held at Howard and Wilde Lake High
Schools.
“Indian dance is celebratory and highly
energetic,” Bejjanki said. “Costumes are
colorful and shimmery. We also use props,
everything from cymbals to clay pots atop
dancers’ heads in some folk dances.”
Most of Bejjanki’s students at Yuva Dance
are preteens (Yuva means “young” in in
Hindi and several other languages) but some
have stuck with it from the studio’s start,
seven years ago.
“Why do they come back? They like the
competition, and parents want their kids to
be accomplished,” he said. “Some of those
who come here become like family.”
‘Keeps me close
to my own roots’
In the basement of her home in
Woodstock, Sushmita Mitra schools young
girls in the dances of her native land.
For Mitra, who’s from Kolkata(formerly
Calcutta), the capital of India’s West Bengal
state, it’s more than a means of melding
children of Indian parentage with their
heritage, and drumming the music and
movements into their souls.
“They learn structure and discipline,
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| Summer 2023 | howardmagazine.com
because this is pretty rigorous [exercise],”
said Mitra, 44. “Dance is a great way to stay
fit, plus it teaches girls about self-respect and
boosts their self-esteem.”
Mitra learned the ropes from her mother,
a classical dancer in India and — after
emigrating here, earning a graduate degree
and starting a family — she followed suit and
began tutoring her own 5-year-old daughter.
Word spread through the Indian American
community, and parents sought Mitra to
teach their own kids.
But classical dance can be arduous, so
Mitra often opts for a hybrid style more to
her students’ favor.
“Sometimes we teach fusion dance, with
more contemporary, Western and ‘poppy’
songs,” she said. “These kids were raised here,
so I want to teach what they like while also
bringing them closer to the values of their