Teaching, Performing, and Leading at KDA’s 28th Annual Dance Concert
The twelve performers I performed “Current Laga Re” onstage with.
Dance has always been one of the most critical pillars of my life. I began as a Bollywood dancer at age four, and it has been one of the most important, consistent activities in my life ever since. Not only has my interaction with Bollywood dance at Kruti Dance Academy (KDA) been a primary way I connect with my culture, but it was also, in fact, my first introduction to musical performance. Had I not been a dancer, I likely wouldn’t have become a musician. Since middle school, I have been instructing dance classes of my own at the academy while remaining a student, and what I love most about being a student volunteer at Kruti is that my responsibilities span far beyond teaching, and the lessons I learn extend far beyond dance. Being on the team that put on Kruti Dance Academy’s 28th Annual Dance Concert this year truly made the spring semester of my junior year some of the most rewarding months of my life.
As student volunteers at Kruti–what we call “group leaders”--we are effectively in charge of anything and everything our classes have to do in preparation for the annual show in May. Kruti Dance Academy, led by Founder and Director Dina Sheth and Artistic Director Shemoni Parekh, has established its presence at America’s premier Indian dance institution–having performed on America’s Got Talent and in the 2015 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. In place of what most art schools have as a recital, Kruti has a concert–a large annual production that showcases students’ work as part of a themed show, while selling thousands of seats to the general public. Accordingly, the show takes immense preparation and is seriously so much fun. This is my twelfth year as a performer in the show and my fifth year as a group leader, and this experience is something I genuinely am excited for every year.
Last year, I taught my class of students from third to seventh grade choreography I helped make to “Jai Jai Shiv Shankar,” and this year they danced to “Naacho Naacho,” the Hindi adaptation of Oscar- and Golden Globe-winning song “Naatu Naatu”. This year, I took on an additional class of younger students–kindergarten to second grade–which danced to the song “Keti Ko” on stage. I was part of a duet to the song “Current Laga Re,” which we also performed at a wedding in late-April, which you can read about here. Throughout the year, group leaders have several meetings to plan the performances of their classes. We organize schedules for dress rehearsals and stage rehearsals, we delegate responsibilities to assistants for the students’ snacks, costumes, and makeup, and we choreograph our groups’ movement throughout the show and venue in a way that simplifies the concert experience for everyone involved.
These several logistical duties have shown me just how much preparation goes into a show, which is certainly helpful to know as an aspiring musician. However, the aspect of this experience that has impacted me the most is how it has taught me to interact with people. As a teacher, you are who the children look up to–they model your behavior and parents turn to you with questions. As I began to take on more responsibilities, I realized these jobs aren’t an excuse to act stressed, but they’re another reason to stay more composed. The academy taught me how to calmly handle situations–a costume ripping, a snack missing, a child sobbing–with a smile on my face contagious enough so the people around me feel more at ease too.
Being a student and teacher at Kruti has truly been one of the most transformative experiences of my life, and I could not be more thankful for the loving environment that I’ve been a part of. I had a blast being a part of the 28th Annual Dance Concert, and I can’t wait for next year to do it one last time before I graduate high school.
