exploring
DANCE
Three girls from three different cultures all found ties to their roots through dance. by maya packer hile some people use Ancestry.com to feel more rooted in their culture and origins, others live it out everyday. One way to get in touch culturally is to practice the traditions of the culture, which includes dance. As one of the oldest forms of art, dance is found all over the world in different variations. Megha Gupta ‘20, Mary Claire Steele ‘20 and Ryann Phillips ‘20 all danced. For these girls, dance was an expression of not only their culture, but also their art. While Gupta gracefully glided across the stage in her lehenga, Steele jumped around the pub to boisterous cheers from the crowd in a blinged-out dress and hard shoes, and Phillips artfully connected many styles into each dance move during her dance competitions. Gupta, Steele and Phillips came from different backgrounds culturally, but they shared the same passion for dancing and connecting to their cultural roots. Gupta started dancing at the age of five, inspired by the performances of her grandmother. “Seeing her perform on stage when I was little, it was an inspiration for me because I saw how passionate she was about it,” Gupta said. “I felt that this was a way for me to connect with not only her but also my culture.” Gupta practiced a classical Indian dance style called Kathak, used as a religious devotion. Although Gupta did not view herself as a deeply religious person, she used dance as a way to pay homage to her Indian heritage. “I’m a third generation Indian American,” Gupta said. “Both my parents [were] born here, and I was born here. We’re a lot more disconnected from our original Indian heritage, so doing Kathak allowed me to reconnect with my culture.” The moves in Kathak are all deliberate and elegant. They each represent something in Indian culture such as a story or a god. Many times, dancing Kathak means the dancers are telling a story from their culture. “[Through] how we use our body and how we use our arms and
our movements, we’re able to express our culture,” Gupta said. Steele started her dance career 11 years ago because of a dress. During a sewing lesson, her little sister was enchanted by a sparkly Irish dancing dress. Her sister decided to start practicing Irish dance, so she could have a dress of her own. Steele was along for the ride and began dancing as well. “I did it for a couple years, and, eventually, I fell in love with it,” Steele said. Irish dancing has two different styles, hard shoe and soft shoe. “Soft shoe looks a little more like a ballet shoe, and it’s a lot of jumping and up on your toes,” Steele said. “Hard shoe is also a lot of up on your toes and jumping. You make beats kind of like tap dancing on the floor [by banging] all your weight on your leg to make really loud sounds.” Steele’s Irish roots stem from her great grandfather, who came to America during the Irish famine of the 1840s. While her mother’s side does not have documentation, she believes they are also of Irish descent. “I would say I express my culture most on St. Patrick’s Day because every year we go around to pubs, nursing homes, charity events, and we also do the St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” Steele said of her dance team. Not only is Irish dancing a physical manifestation of her culture and heritage, but it has also become an integral part of Mary Claire’s life.
“Through dance, we are telling a story from our culture.”
20
Megha Gupta
“Dancing is pretty much my entire life,” Steele said. “It takes a lot of time, and I love it. I have a passion for it.” Phillips began her journey with dance when she was just three years old and has been involved in many different dance styles including ballet, contemporary, modern, tap and Moja. Moja dance–a mixture
