A Tale as Old as Time Gets Retold
Dhirana Academy brings to life the story of Krishna through the beauty of Indian classical dance in a brand-new dance production – ‘Baala’
Bentonville, AR, November 20, 2021
Dhirana Academy of Classical Indian Dance celebrates its 5th annual Fall production with a dance drama conceptualized, choreographed, produced, in Northwest Arkansas and performed entirely by students in the community. Baala, the tale of Kanha, tells the story of Krishna, a well-known Hindu god. Starting from the divine prophesy surrounding his birth, it traverses through his enjoyable childhood antics as a cowherd boy and how he fights and triumphs over the evil forces that plague the land. These tales are sure to rekindle nostalgic memories of childhood in anyone.
The 90-minute dance drama choreographed and directed by Megha P Rao, will be staged at Bentonville West High School on 20th November 2021 from 4pm to 7pm. The narration of this production will be in English, with classical music set to 5 different Indian languages. 40 dancers, all students ranging from age 5 through 18 will be a part of this production. The family friendly performance, Baala, will be appropriate for any age and any language speaker.
About Dhirana Academy of Classical Dance
Dhirana Academy of Classical Dance was founded in 2011 on the principles of instilling a deep and strong understanding in the learning of Bharatanatyam, an ancient Indian Classical dance form. Over the past 10 years, the Academy has endeavored to bridge the gap between society and the art form by inspiring, educating, and guiding students of dance in Northwest Arkansas. Dhirana strongly believes that exposure is one of the keys to development and success hence has nurtured in every student a passion for performing it. Over the past several years Team Dhirana has been a staple at almost every cultural event within the region, showcasing the beauty and versatility of this dance form while fostering collaborations with other like-minded artists of other disciplines. Since its inception, Megha P Rao has served as the artistic director of Dhirana Academy of Classical Dance.
About Megha P. Rao
Vidushi Megha P. Rao has been dancing for more than two decades and teaching for more than a decade now. She established the Dhirana Academy in 2008 in India before moving to Northwest Arkansas ten years ago. She creates the curriculum, teaches, choreographs, and performs regularly as part of Dhirana, both with her senior students and as a solo performer.
As a performer, Megha effortlessly combines agile rhythmic footwork with pristine purity of her expression, creating spell-binding performances. She has enthralled audiences around the country with her delightful performances at prestigious venues like the American Natya Festival at St Louis. Megha was also a winner of the Momentary Virtual Tower Talent show in 2020.
She has trained 5 students of dance to perform their full-length solo debut or Arangetram in the past 3 years with many of these students back in the studio to continue their advanced learning. As a choreographer, a recent production – ‘The Exiled King’ was picked up to be showcased as the first post-covid dance production at Walton Arts Center in April of this year.
Megha continues to serve as an ambassador of Indian dance, learning other dance forms like Ballet and collaborating with other artists across cultures and art forms, of note, a recent a Hip-Hop Bharatanatyam collaboration ‘Collision – when visions combine’ with American Hip-Hop artist Jasper Logan at the Momentary.
