GARLAND – Dancers from the Dallas-Fort Worth area entertained their audience at the Granville Arts Center by telling stories through the classical style of Indian dance Bharatanatyam.

This biannual fundraiser, called Natya Nivedanam, was organized by Vani Ishwara and her students. Ishwara runs Natyaveda, a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching bharatanatyam. Bharatanatyam dancers from all over Dallas-Fort Worth are invited to perform as part of the fundraiser.

Bharatanatyam is the oldest classical dance tradition of India, especially known for the dancer’s posture, including a fixed upper torso, bent legs and flexed knees. Combined with intricate footwork and an array of hand gestures, eye movements and facial expressions, bharatanatyam tells age old Indian stories. Dancers weave the tales of mischievous young Krishna, a Hindu deity, and express their gratefulness to their audience, gods and gurus through this style of movement. This form of storytelling illustrates human emotion to its deepest levels.

“The most impressive part of Bharatanatyam is the expressions,” Coppell High School sophomore and Bharatanatyam dancer Amrutha Gandikota said. “It’s meant to show emotions in a form like no other. There’s a vulnerability in the dance. You just can’t tell a story the same way you can through bharatanatyam. Nothing else is nearly as expressive. That’s what makes it really beautiful,” 

This year, Natya Nivedanam’s profits will be donated to Pediplace, an organization providing pediatric care to children ages 0-18 who are uninsured or qualify for Medicare or CHIP for little to no cost. 

“Pediplace was a great choice to fundraise for,” Gandikota said. “Other than teaching classical dance, Natyaveda wants to be able to make a difference in the world through our dance and this is a great example of how we can do that. I believe it’s important to help those without the same privileges many of us have and take for granted and Natyaveda does as well.” Gandikota said.

The event was hosted by Ishwara’s students Coppell senior Sona Selvamani, Coppell sophomore Eesha Nayak, Coppell senior Harshini Akarapu, Coppell sophomore Chinnari Akarapu and Coppell junior Nivedya Vengattery. 

“I loved being one of the hosts for this event, because it was so gratifying,” Akarapu said. “This was my first time doing something like this and it was totally new. Taking part in this definitely did take away time from other things like schoolwork, but I think it was worth it. It’s nice to know that my hard work and talent in dance can be put to good use. Raising money for Pediplace is definitely worth the effort.” 

Along with providing support to Pediplace, the event showcased the Indian culture that many immigrants brought to Dallas.

“Bharatanatyam is a very old Indian tradition,” Selvamani said. “This event is us showing that we’re proud of it, that we haven’t left it behind. It’s a timeless dance style and I’m glad to know I took part in imprinting it into Dallas.”

Follow Anjali (@anjalikrishna_) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.