Arts for Healing and Growth

Why Fusion?

With a sari wrapped around my waist and pointe shoes laced around my ankles, I have never belonged to one culture.

When I was six, I was placed in Bharatanatyam, a type of Indian dance, where the teacher would beat the ground with a wooden stick as students stamp their feet and transition between mudras or hand positions. Though I loved to dance, after my  Salangai Puja, I didn’t want to continue with Bharatanatyam. There is no question that it is a beautiful form of dance; however, I felt as if it was built upon harsh movements; I didn’t feel as if I could express myself through it. I explored different forms of dance building foundations in ballet, falling in love with lyrical, grooving to jazz, and even attempting acro. Most importantly with every extension, turn, and movement, I felt myself able to narrate my unique story.

Despite loving Western forms of dance, I twinge in my heart still felt as if I betrayed my culture. Apart from speaking Bengali and occasionally whipping up an East Indian dish, I didn’t know much about my heritage, and I had just given up Indian dance. Transitioning into my teenage years, my grasp of culture was slowly seeping through my fingertips. It was only in 2020, during the lockdown from COVID-19, that I rediscovered Indian culture in a meaningful yet enjoyable form by starting Arts For Healing And Growth. I used dance to improve mental health, vicariously travel the world by learning dance from different cultures, and ultimately choreograph dances of a fusion of these cultures. I not only rediscovered Indian dances, like Bharatnatyam and Odissi, but also immersed myself in other cultures’ dance styles, from Folklórico to Tango.