A 13-year-old girl from China scripted history as she performed Bharatanatyam “Arangetram” in her country. This is a major milestone in the journey of the ancient Indian dance form that is gaining popularity in the neighbouring country.
Lei Muzi, the young dancer, made her solo debut earlier this week in front of an esteemed audience that included the renowned Bharatanatyam exponent Leela Samson, Indian diplomats, and several other Chinese admirers of the art form, news agency PTI reports.
The occasion marked the first-ever “Arangetram” – the traditional Bharatanatyam graduation ceremony – in China.
For the devoted Chinese enthusiasts of Indian classical dance who have spent years mastering and performing it, Lei’s debut was a “historic” moment.
In the tradition of Bharatanatyam, Arangetram is the dancer’s inaugural performance before an audience that includes their teachers, experts, and guests. It is only after this rite of passage that a student is considered ready to perform independently or take on students of their own.
This is the first-ever Arangetram by a student fully trained in China and performed in China,” TS Vivekanand, the First Secretary of the Indian Embassy in charge of culture, told PTI.
The Arangetram was executed in a traditional manner, maintaining the authenticity of the ritual, he noted.
“Lei’s Arangetram is the first time that Chinese students trained by a Chinese teacher have completed in China, which is a landmark in the history of Bharatanatyam inheritance,” Jin Shan Shan, a Bharatanatyam dancer in China and Lei’s mentor, was quoted as saying by PTI.
According to the report, the performance drew a large audience who enthusiastically applauded Lei throughout her two-hour performance, during which she danced to several classical compositions.
Accompanying her were a group of musicians flown in from Chennai, who provided live music for the event, the report said.
Lei will be performing in Chennai later this month.
Lei, also affectionately known as Dudu, has been studying Bharatanatyam for over a decade at Jin’s dance school. Jin herself was the first Chinese dancer to complete an Arangetram in Bharatanatyam, which she did in 1999 in New Delhi, PTI reports.
Lei Muzi’s journey with Bharatanatyam began in 2014 when she joined Jin’s school, and her love for the art has only deepened over the years.
