The Nexus

Keeping in time with the music, Divya Kothandapani (9), fitted in a traditional Indian silk dress and accessories, stomped her feet.

A strip of cloth wound around her ankles. They made a silvery sound that accompanied the music playing in the background.

She was performing an Indian dance called Bharatanatyam. Kothandapani remembers how she got started five years ago.

Watching the different dancers perform at the temple or at Indian gatherings when she was about eight, Kothandapani would look upon them with admiration and wish that she was up on stage too.

She had always pictured herself in the dresses and makeup, dancing the steps and hand motions she’d seen at Indian gatherings

Now, she is the one on the stage.

Karnatic, classical Indian music, played as she performed: vocals with drums, flutes, violins, and other instruments.

She wore an intricate dress made from silk which fanned out in the front and had a fitted top in contrasting colors.

A clip-on lock of braided hair hung down to her waist and she wore a bindi, a red dot, on her forehead, a white and orange flower garland on her head, and gold jewelry on her wrists and neck.

With each beat of the music, Kothandapani bent her knees halfway, using her neck, eyes, and even eyebrows to show emotion, hands moving in patterns that meant something different with each turn or flick.

By age seven, Kothandapani had lost track of her culture. Living in America, she spoke and read English, forgetting almost everything about India.

That all changed when her grandmother visited from India. During her stay, she taught Kothandapani everything the 7-year-old had forgotten since moving to the US.

“She didn’t want to see me becoming totally Americanized,” Kothandapani said. “Ever since then, I’ve tried to learn everything about India, so I don’t feel left out when I go over there to visit my relatives.”

Kothandapani uses her dancing as a way to get in touch with her religion. Each dance has a certain meaning.

“Most of the songs we dance to are about Hindu Gods,” Kothandapani said. “The meanings of the songs tell us what the Gods or Goddesses did or what they were known for.”

Performances also offer Kothandapani a way to reconnect with her culture, even though she still lives in America.

“When we perform, we usually dance at temples and Indian functions with family and friends,” Kothandapani said. “They give me a chance to learn about other [types of] Indian dances and more about my culture.”

Kothandapani said that keeping close to her background is really important to her since she is so far away from India.

“I don’t want to become fully Americanized and lose my background and culture,” Kothandapani said. “I need to keep in touch with my culture, so when I go to visit, I am not clueless about what’s happening at all.”

Dancing gives Kothandapani something different from everybody else. She said she is proud of her accomplishments.

“It’s so cool to be different from everyone else and have a culture that I know all about and I can talk about with my friends,” Kothandapani said.

Kothandapani said that her grandparents call her weekly from India to speak to her in Tamil, an Indian language, so she doesn’t lose touch with her culture.

“My culture is a part of me. If I lose that part, I won’t feel complete,” Kothandapani said.

Kothandapani said that Bharatanatyam is also an outlet for her to relieve her stress.

“It is something I can connect to,” Kothandapani said. “Whenever I am feeling stressed, I can just dance or sing to relax.”