Prior Lake girl to perform two-hour dance recital, 10 years in the making

Prior Lake American

Prior Lake resident Shreya Mohan will test her dance skills during a two-hour recital on Saturday at the Minnesota Masonic Heritage Center in Bloomington at 4 p.m.

Mohan — who is about to enter ninth grade at The Blake School in Minneapolis — has been studying the classical Indian dance form Bharatanatyam since she was 3 years old.

“When I tell people I do dance, they assume I do ballet or jazz,” Mohan said. “I want to educate people about this dance and make it something people know about.”

The recital on Saturday, also known as Arangetram, will consist of nine total dances spanning four Indian languages with short breaks in between for brief introductions to the pieces. Other than the introductions, Mohan will dance the entire time — which will end up being close to two-and-a-half hours.

“It’s a path of composition of pieces that gives the dancer an opportunity to show their control over rhythm, their control over the body, their control over time and also the ability to emote,” said Suchitra Sairam, owner of the Kala Vandanam Dance Company in St. Paul where Mohan studies.

Bharatanatyam began in the temples of south India as a form of worship. After undergoing a renaissance in the 1800s, the dance form focuses heavily on conveying emotion through body language. Bharatanatyam has three major aspects — technical dance, expressive dance and storytelling.

“It’s important to be able to show your control and command over expression,” Sairam said. “It’s really about connection between the artist and the audience. In the end, when you come out of this debut performance and if you’ve been able to bring your audience with you.”

The Arangetram is seen as a landmark performance for those who practice Bharatanatyam.

“This is not a requirement — doing this performance, this milestone,” Sairam said. “There are many who study the art form for many, many years and choose not to do it. ... It takes a tremendous amount of commitment and a tremendous amount of love.”

Mohan said she’s always known she wanted to do the Arangetram, but officially decided in June 2017 to start training specifically for the performance.

“I feel like this is when I really start to get an understanding of what I can do and what I need to work on and after this is what will really make me better as a dancer,” Mohan said.

In the past year, the family has made countless trips from Prior Lake to St. Paul and has spent hours in the studio.

“It’s a special milestone,” Sairam said. “You see it and you have to remember that it’s something that’s 10 years in the making. I think about Shreya in particular, it’s really been three years of pretty intensive work and commitment and the past year in particular. It takes a lot of love to do something like that.”

Mohan’s mother, Thangamani Appugounder, said Mohan has never dreaded going to class to study Bharatanatyam.

“There was never a moment like she was trying to not go to class,” Appugounder said. “She was looking forward to going to the class.”

The study of Bharatanatyam doesn’t end after the Arangetram.

“There’s always something we haven’t done,” Sairam said. “This is a marker that we build our skill up to and from here, we end up working on things that are more difficult and more complex.”

Those wanting to attend can email info@kalavandanam.com to request tickets. The performance is free.