Satyam Dance School Students

Dancing Through The Winter

The winter term saw an explosion of activity from the students following a very quiet couple of years due to Covid, in fact performances in both 2020 and 2021 pretty much ground to a complete halt, and hats off to both parents and students who despite the challenges of learning online kept motivated throughout the lockdowns, and despite exam and performance cancellations until we were finally able to meet face to face again in April 2021.

The first performance of the new academic year came from the Grade 2 and 3 students and Ishani. The ladies had worked hard throughout the lockdowns and despite having had their examinations postponed twice never lost faith. They performed two items – Mallari and Radha Sametha at the Northampton Festival of Lights, a performance that was greatly appreciated by the attending audience.

November saw an invited opportunity for me to share the stage with fellow ISTD teacher Krishna Zivraj from Cambridge at Sakhya Cambridge Friends of India’s Diwali Dinner, Roshni A Ray of Hope. Here I dedicated my performance to two ladies who were key in my training, my dear late Ma – Swati Ganguli and my lovely vocal guru – late Smt Sivasakthi Sivanesan (who we had lost just a week earlier). I performed Sri Rama Chandra sung beautifully by Aunty and a Shiva Kirtanam sung by the very talented wonderful artist Yadav Yadavan Sir.

The new year bought new opportunities this time for the grade 1 classes in the form of a folk dance for Pongal thanks to MKMM’s invitation. Sadly the increasing number of covid cases meant that the performance had to be pre-recorded and broadcast online rather than the planned stage performance – but the girls enjoyed the opportunity and challenge nontheless.

And Ananya Pyaraka and Ishani Patel decided to take the challenge of entering the U Dance South East Screen Moves competition, and whilst their performance did not make it to the final online performance there was some great positive feedback from judges and encouragement to enter again next year.

The students are now working hard each week towards upcoming performances through the summer term at MIKMA’s Vishu celebrations, and International Dance Day at the MK Rose, as well as the MKIAC Annual festivities at Campbell Park in May – so another busy term of performances alongside examination preparation.