Vidyanjali Dancers represent India at Needham Multicultural Festival 2024

The community of Needham, Massachusetts, came together on Sunday October 20th to celebrate the diversity of cultures that make the town unique. The Needham Multicultural Festival is an annual event that brings together the community to share traditions, art, music, dance, and food from around the world. This family-friendly event is open to everyone and offers a unique opportunity to experience the richness of our cultural tapestry. The 2024 event was the 2nd annual one co-hosted by The Needham Human Rights Committee and Needham Diversity Initiative.

The Vidyanjali Dancers of New England were proud to represent India in this year's event, which also featured dances from China, Ireland, Pakistan and even the Natick Praying Circle of Indigenous Native Americans. Our presentation included two Bharatanatyam items:

Mahaganapatim - In this item, the dancers described meditating upon the elephant-headed God of Wisdom, Ganesha, who is worshipped by the great sages. This Carnatic composition of Muthuswami Dikshithar is in the language Sanskrit and was rendered in a fusion style by popular singer Karthik. The musical arrangement is by Sai Madhukar. The item was choreographed by Anandini Sekhar.

Performers: Sahana Kochar, Olivia Kalapala, Navya Saxena, Mira Lakshmi Misra, Priyanka Butler, Kavya Misra, Reyna Shah, Jiya Vachani, Sahana Tuli, Rujuta Dorsch, Nuria Kumar-Warikoo, Tarini Srinivasan and Jaya Butler.

Natarajanjali - This dance is a form of Pushpanjali, which means an offering of flowers. The dancers begin with pure movement, which is followed by a sacred verse in Tamil in praise of the divine dancing form of Shiva - Nataraja - whose crescent moon ornament and ash-covered body are celebrated. This is a traditional composition that was sung by M.L. Vasanathakumari and was choreographed by Guru Sudha Chandra Sekhar.

Performers: Nuria Kumar-Warikoo, Tarini Srinivasan and Jaya Butler.

Special thanks to Christina Mathews for this unique opportunity for the students of Vidyanjali, and to Reeya and Janhavi Wadhwani for supporting the team.

For more information about the Needham Multicultural Festival please visit https://needhammulticultural.org/

About Vidyanjali

Vidyanjali was formed to share knowledge of and train young dancers in the art of Bharata Natyam as taught by Guru Sudha Chandra Sekhar and the Gurus of Sri Rajarajeshwari Bharata Natya Kalamandir. The school is a branch of Nritya Sudha's Hindu Temple Rhythms (HTR), established in 1958 to promote Indian Classical arts in North America. Director Anandini Chandra Sekhar is the youngest daughter and student of Guru "Natya Veda Bharati" Sudha Chandra Sekhar.