Chinese student captivates audience with her solo Bharatanatyam debut in Beijing

A 17-year-old girl achieved the feat of becoming the second Chinese student to perform ‘Arangetram’, a solo debut of the ancient Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, highlighting its growing popularity among youngsters in the country.

Zhang Jiayuan performed her Arangetram at a packed auditorium in Beijing on Friday night.

India’s Deputy Ambassador Abhishek Shukla and noted Chinese Bharatanatyam exponent Jin Shan Shan were among the audience on Zhang’s special day.

For performers of Bharatanatyam, the ancient dance form of South India, Arangetram is their debut performance on stage in front of teachers and experts, besides the audience.

Only after Arangetram, students are allowed to perform on their own or train aspiring dancers.

Zhang, also known as Rhea, is the second Chinese student to have performed Arangetram.

Last year, around the same time, 13-year-old Lei Muzi made history, becoming the first Chinese student trained in China to successfully perform her Arangetram in front of India’s famous Bharatanatyam exponent Leila Samson, under whom Jin Shan Shan learnt the dance.

Jin was trained in the Indian classical dance form at the famous Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai, an institution dedicated to preserving Indian art forms.

The passion for Indian classical dances in China was ignited by noted Chinese dancer Zhang Jun (1933-2012), who inspired generations of Chinese with her relentless desire to learn Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi and make them popular in China.

Zhang first visited India in the early 1950s, during which she was captivated by the Indian dance and art forms and spent a number of years learning them.

Jin was one of the numerous Chinese students who were trained by Zhang and later by Leila Sampson.

Rhea began learning Bharatanatyam at the age of five and later joined a special dance school run by Jin when she was 12.

It was a tough task for the past five years to prepare for Arangetram, practicing for five hours a day, Rhea said after the performance, hugging her teacher with tears of joy.

Shukla, who felicitated Rhea, praised her interest and dedication in learning the most complex Indian dance art form.

Jin also trains students at the Indian Embassy’s Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Beijing, which provides training in different Indian art and dance forms.

She said about 100 students are learning Bharatanatyam at her school. She periodically takes her students to India to learn and perform.

Most of them have been studying for over 10 years. There are also two groups of beginners currently learning the dance, she said.