Spring Forward: Watching Young Dancers Step Into Svāhā!
This June, Bharatanatyam students from Citadel Dance Program and Abhinayakshetra Fine Arts Canada will perform excerpts from Svāhā! as part of Citadel + Compagnie’s Spring Forward.
Nova Bhattacharya:
“Having the opportunity to provide an immersive experience of being a professional dancer to 7-14 year olds has been an absolute privilege and wonderful responsibility.
I have been so moved by the way the students, and their families have approached the process and each other with openness, curiosity, and generosity. They are all putting so much time and energy into the upcoming performances.
Every other week the two groups come together and I run the class like a rehearsal; we check in; we warm up; we practice the ritual of namaskaram. All dancers, pros and students are treated the same; everyone is a dancer learning the steps and the sequences.
“... there is something deeply emotional about witnessing young dancers discover the power of collaboration and performance. ”
Svāhā! has always been rooted in dance as a ritual of gathering and there is something deeply emotional about witnessing young dancers discover the power of collaboration and performance. The generosity and humility of the pros infuse the room and the work shifts and expands alongside the dancers who encounter it.
Bharatanatyam was my first pathway into movement and storytelling, so it is especially meaningful to see dancers at the beginning of their journeys encountering my choreographic world through this process. I hope they experience rigor and discipline, joy, imagination, and the knowledge that dance can connect us across generations and cultural backgrounds.
At its core, dance creates temporary communities of attention, care, rhythm, and witnessing. Being in the studio with these young artists has been a beautiful reminder of that truth.”
Join us this June at the Citadel for Spring Forward, an inspiring performance showcasing the dedication, hard work of our pros and dancers.
Where: The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance (304 Parliament Street)