A 13-year-old Chinese girl made history with her performance Bharatanatyam “Arangetram” in China. It marks a landmark in the journey of the ancient Indian dance form that is gaining popularity in the neighbouring country. Lei Muzi made her solo dance debut on Sunday in front of the celebrated Bharatanatyam dancer Leela Samson, Indian diplomats and a large audience of Chinese fans.The occasion marked the first-ever “Arangetram” – the traditional Bharatanatyam graduation ceremony – in China. In the tradition of Bharatanatyam, Arangetram is the dancer’s inaugural performance before an audience that includes their teachers, experts, and guests. It is only after this rite of passage that a student is considered ready to perform independently or take on students of their own.”This is the first-ever Arangetram by a student fully trained in China and performed in China,” TS Vivekanand, the First Secretary of the Indian Embassy in charge of culture, told PTI.
The Arangetram was executed in a traditional manner, maintaining the authenticity of the ritual, he noted.
“Lei’s Arangetram is the first time that Chinese students trained by a Chinese teacher have completed in China, which is a landmark in the history of Bharatanatyam inheritance,” Jin Shan Shan, a Bharatanatyam dancer in China and Lei’s mentor, was quoted as saying by PTI.