August 6th at Lincoln Sudbury High School has been stuck in hundreds of guest’s heart as an “unforgettable “evening! Prarthna Desai and Anishi Shah mesmerized the audience with their amazing foot work, beautiful expressions, hand eye coordination and grace during their Arangetram It marks the culmination of nearly a decade of dedication, determination, and devotion from both students of Nrityanjali School of Performing Arts under the well known Guru Smt Jothi Raghavan.It was not only an excellent exhibition of talent from the dancers but also the Guru Smt Jothi Raghavan skillful choreography and renowned musician’s interlude that kept the audience in pin drop silence glued to their seats.

 â€œAscending the stage” is the literal translation of the word Arangetram; which dates back thousands of years. The art of Indian dance is believed to have come from Lord Shiva himself as he plays the role of Natraja (the Lord of Dance.

An arangetram is the ultimate goal for every classical Indian dancer. The tedious years of hard work and practice didn’t scare Prarthna and Anishi from achieving this goal, their final step toward graduation. In this extravagant dance depiction, Indian mythology is shown through the dancer’s complex moves and facial expressions for the long duration of the performance, usually around 3 hours. The combination of the melodious live music, containing the  mridung  the veena, and the violin, and the beats of the dancer’s feet, create an entrancing mood for the audience. An arangetram is the final step and includes the most vigorous dance steps to the conclusion of a dancer’s education in this dance form.

The training, hard work and preparation that a dancer must go through for an arangetram is no easy task. It takes years of training before a Bharata Nat yam dancer can even think of having an arangetram because it truly is the end of their education in the form of dance. Prarthna and Anishi practiced almost everyday for months in preparation for their arangetram and their hard work definitely showed, they were perfect in everyway. The audience was amazed by their costumes, complex dance sequences and how everything flowed so well with the music. Prarthna and Anishi flawlessly danced for almost three hours and could not have ended this first chapter of their dance  education any better.

Prarthna demonstrated her  proficiency  without a doubt !Her ability to express the various emotions with her eyes and facial expression while depicting the  stories  really astonished the audience .Her grace and charm while dancing so confidently demonstrated the continued  practice and effort shown  in her Varnum ,a very difficult piece. Her dedication is evident in her steadfast adherence to dance for the past ten years with her teacher, Smt. Jothi Raghavan and  participation in multiple cultural  shows . She is an enthusiastic , intelligent and compassionate girl! Aside from dance, Prarthna takes part in several other activities such as volunteering as an assistant teacher at an Indian Cultural School, coxing for her varsity crew team and participating in debate, Model UN, and scientific symposia at The Windsor School where she will be a junior. In her free time, Prarthna enjoys playing the piano and tennis. I have seen her juggle these activities without showing any signs of stress or effect on her excellent academic goals. She wants to peruse her future in field of science and medicine but  dance has been a major part of Prarthna’s life thus far and will continue to be for time to come.

The words passionate, vivacious and hardworking only begin to describe Anishi. She is always fun to be around and has an amazing personality. Like Prarthna, Anishi has also danced with Smt. Jothi Raghavan for the past ten years, over which her dedication to dance has been unwavering.
Today’s extraordinary performance attests to this .She exhibited not only an amazing talent but ability to touch people’s heart with her disciplined rhythmic dancing .Her mastery over complex and intricate dancing was very evident by her every move. Although dance is a major part of Anishi’s life, she participates in several other activities such as spending most of her time volunteering at her town library, Emerson Hospital and Indian Cultural School and also singing in her school’s Madrigal Choir and the District Choruses. Anishi will be a sophomore at Acton Boxborough Regional High School in the fall where she is an honors student. Through hard work, perseverance and dedication Anishi has accomplished so much in both dance and several other aspects of her life.

A leading performer of Bharatanatyam, Guru Jothi  Raghavan is the founder and director of the prestigious Nrityanjali School of Dance. She is renowned for her authentic classical Bharatanatyam teaching through out New England. She has taught hundreds of  her pupils an ancient tradition of dancing to keep alive our thousand yrs old tradition and heritage.
Both Prarthna and Anishi complete their formal dance training today but  it is  just the beginning of their dance journey. They plan to continue to participate in the performances by the Nrityanjali School as well as be assistant teacher to the younger kids who wants to learn this traditional form of dancing under able guidance of their respected Guru Smt Raghavan.

Here are a few comments from audience

”The cultural interchange that this performance provided is invaluable”  

 â€œIt was breathtaking to see how Prarthna and Anishi performed their dance with so many intricate and disciplined movements of  entire body, particularly head, neck, shoulders, and limbs.  The coordination was extraordinary.  "

"What a fine combination of athleticism and grace! The way they danced so very "in sinc" with the musicians was outstanding. "

"We particularly enjoyed the way  Prarthna’s eyes and facial expressions kept our attention riveted throughout the whole performance."

 â€œThe dance was so precise that the girls looked like twin images of each other.  Most fascinating was that the whole body seemed to come alive with dance even the eye brows moved synchronously to the music.  The costumes were absolutely gorgeous, very colorful and traditional.”

" It was terrific to see how music, dance and storytelling all come together with such beauty.”

" A stunning performance “

”Apart from traditional BhartaNatyam pieces, the inclusion of a Gujarati folk dance  choreographed on BharataNatyam steps gave the performance a more ethnic and personal touch and brought forth diversity of Indian culture."

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