Co-create our proof-of-concept short film "Arangetram" - a love letter to Bharatanatyam dance.

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Statement by writer, Nita Rao, a former Bharatanatyam dancer behind the true events of this story:

In my thirteen years as an Indian classical (Bharatanatyam) dancer, I never felt good enough. Since I was three, everyone expected me to follow in the footsteps of my mother—a legendary performer who won the Order of Australia Medal for her service to Indian music and dance. But though I loved dance, I felt suffocated by the weight of expectations. So when I ran off the stage crying after getting my first ever period during my capstone dance recital, I vowed never to dance again.

And I never have. But twenty years later, the shame I felt about dancing has been replaced with a sense of sadness.

For the girl who gave up on an activity she loved (and so many since) because of the need to be perfect. For the girl who let her hunger for external validation trump her passion for this beautiful artform. This film is my attempt to live a different life.

This film is also a story about grief—raw, visceral, overpowering grief—and the ways we try to dodge grief through action or inaction. It’s a story about fatherhood, and what it means to be a good dad in the “woman’s” world of Indian dance. And it is a story about an ancient dance tradition, and a young girl who does not run from her culture but rather finds meaning in it.