Sun-blasted crowds flanking the main stage on Leonard Street enjoyed colorful Indian dances and classical music at the first ever Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition Dance Fest at Town Day May 21.
The String Beans ensemble started off the festivities, with Daphne Lee (violin), Joshua Lee (cello), Jack Stevens (viola) and Sarah Xu (keyboard) playing renditions of a Taiwanese folk song, the theme song from “Curse of the Golden Flower” and “Let it Go” from “Frozen.”
The first dance, organized by Sripriya Narasimhan, featured pink-and-gold clad students of the Samskriti Dance School performing in the Bharatanatyam style of Indian classical dance. Sumedha Giridharan, Samyukta Rajaram, Sharmada Rajaram, Sara Raturi, Meenakshi Senthil and Aradhya Siva used detailed facial and hand gestures and bent knee movements. Prevalent across South India, Bharatanatyam is the oldest style of classical Indian dance, with origins in Tamil Nadu.
Next up was another form of classical Indian dance called Kathak, featuring choreographer and dance instructor Mona Mitra, as well as Misha Bhandari, Mala Chaurasia, Swanandi Pote and Nitika Shorey of Mona’s Dance Academy. A North Indian classical dance, Kathak is traditionally attributed to ancient traveling bards and conveyed some clear narrative elements with graceful expressions and hand positions, as well as bells, spins and intricate footwork.
Aashi Benegal and Saina Likhi broke up the classical dances with a spirited, heel-slapping Bollywood number, choreographed by Dipali Trivedi, that got the crowd whooping and clapping. Bollywood, popularized in Indian films, synthesizes dance forms from various regions of India.
The event closed with another Kathak dance that Urmi Samadar choreographed for her students, Anahata Davuluri, Aanya Jain, Srishti Kar, Tanvi Mathura, Anusha Ramakrishnan, Rhia Sharma and Hiya Singh. The dancers wore long, colorful skirts with a gauzy overlay that floated as they whirled. As part of the celebration of the Hindu festival, Holi, the dancers playfully threw clouds of pink and yellow powder at one another and into the air.
Many volunteers, in addition to the aforementioned, contributed valuable time and expertise to the event, including Laura Germine, Sue Ko Walsh, Meenal Bagla, Priya Licht, Shana Wang, Gang Zhao, Hannah Shin, Ye Pogue, Sonia Kumar, Fran Yuan, Hannah Lee and Kai Saukkonen.
BPAC Dance Fest was sponsored by Belmont Against Racism, TN Beauty Salon, Lord’s Cleaners, Wan Educational Consulting and Cambridge Children’s Dentistry.
A non-profit corporation, the Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition was founded in 2021 by a diverse group of Asian-American Belmontonians to advocate for and amplify the voices of the Asian community in Belmont. For more information, visit BelmontPAC.org or email belmontpanasiancoalition@gmail.com. Tax-deductible donations are accepted on the BPAC website or can be mailed to Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition, 66 Hillside Terrace, Belmont, MA.
Julie Wu is president of the Belmont Pan-Asian Coalition and author of “The Third Son.”