It was Ria Tandra’s prime opportunity to show all she has learned in her years of training.
Tandra displayed her classical Indian dance talent Aug. 10 at The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Arts.
“I was super excited to perform at The Tarkington,” said Tandra, a Carmel resident and 2024 Park Tudor School graduate. “I loved the ambiance and the vibe that The Tarkington had, especially when I had performed there with the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in their production of ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ in 2022 and 2023. It was a wonderful experience, and to see everything come to life on stage definitely inspired me to want to perform there as well.”
This was Tandra’s first solo performance at The Tarkington.
“I just completed my Kathak Rangmanch Pranam, which is essentially a solo performance where a dancer demonstrates both the technical and emotional aspects of Kathak to signify the end of their training,” Tandra said. “There were nine dances in the whole show, featuring Kathak to live jazz music and also a technical piece I learned from another guru I worked with, Prashanth Shah, who lives in New York.”
Tandra said instructor Anindita Sen, founder and artistic director of Carmel’s Nrityangan Kathak Dance Academy, was impactful and helpful through her training.
“I started Kathak approximately nine years ago, and I wouldn’t have gotten to this point without her,” Tandra said. “She challenged me very early on in my training, because she knew I could handle it, and I really appreciate that because it put me on a faster track with my dance growth. We spent a lot of time with each other while she was training me for my Rangmanch Pranam and quickly became another mentor for me, both in dance and my life. She pushed for me to attend the New York Kathak Festival in 2023, during which I met my other guru, Prashanth ji, and I formed so many connections and met so many other Kathak dancers who inspired me with their performances.”
Tandra will attend the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville to major in biology. She is in the Bachelor of Science/Doctor of Medicine program, which leads to the Indiana University School of Medicine.
Tandra said her mother had learned South Indian classical dance when she was a child.
“So, when I was young, she put me in my first Kathak class to try something new and different,” she said. “I love Kathak, because it’s so nuanced and significantly more complicated than people think. For example, to the audience, it might look harder to take 27 spins, but in reality, the difficulty lies with the expressional part of Kathak. I also like the fact that I can experiment with Kathak. The jazz piece and the piece I learned from Prashanth ji are both good examples of that. I also really like the Hindu and Muslim influences in Kathak. It makes it so much more unique and detailed, and the costumes are really beautiful.”
Sen said Tandra worked worked very hard to finetune her craft such that she could complete her Rang Manch Pranam in Kathak.
“This accomplishment is achieved by only the top five percent of the students of each class since this requires intense training in the final year and daily practice which then culminates in a 2-hour long solo performance where the dancer executes a minimum of 7 quite difficult pieces,” Sen said. “Ria went above and beyond this requirement by also learning from another Kathak teacher and imbibing his style to execute one of the dances that he taught her. This dedication and perseverance resulted in a very successful dance program.”.
