Congratulations to Bharatanatyam dancers Ishani Patel (Upper Sixth), Ameya Polavajram (Year 7), and Odissi dancers Zara Gulati (Year 10) and Miera Gulati (Year 7), Odissi for their outstanding participation as part of a group of Indian dancers in the recent English Heritage funded youth engagement project called Shout Out Loud.

Debbie Ganguli-Patel (BHS 1994), an alumna and Bharatanatyam Dance teacher, played a crucial role in this English-funded initiative, she said: “My project, West Meets East, brought together 16 students aged 11-18. They collaborated to create a captivating dance piece, which they choreographed themselves,  in honour of the late violinist Yehudi Menuhin, and it was in preparation for the unveiling of a blue plaque dedicated to him on Thursday 6th July in London."

“The dancers represented three of the eight classical dance forms of India, coming from three dance schools in Milton Keynes and Bedford. It was a challenging task for these young dancers to choreograph alongside others from a completely different dance style. The music they chose for their performance was 'Swara Kakali,' a collaboration between Yehudi Menuhin (Violin) and Ravi Shankar (Sitar), originally recorded at Abbey Road Studios in July 1966."

The final piece will be presented in an online dance film by Satyam Dance and English Heritage. 

The exceptional talent displayed by these dancers, along with the rest of the team, has positioned them to enter the South East U Dance competition next spring.