Proud to introduce my senior student, Smrithi Surender as ‘Dheerasena’. Smrithi Surender has been learning Bharathanatyam for the past 8 years and is currently pursuing a Bioengineering major at UC Riverside. Very true to the character ‘Dheerasena’ she played, Smrithi was fiercely determined to break the barriers and nail her role all through her zoom practices. With her unwavering discipline and dedication, she worked toward learning and refining a new martial dance form and elements of theater without any in-person training. I really appreciate all the hard work she put in and her can-do attitude that will take her a long way.
Dheerasena is a courageous warrior from the kingdom of Meghadri. Dheerasena defines courage but what did courage mean to her? Was it building a strong body to fight the enemy? Or was it beyond that? What does courage mean to Dheerasena? I have attempted to bring out Dheerasena’s dance through the Mayurbhanj dance form also known as Chhau. Mayurbhanj is an Indian tribal Martial dance form. Join us at our premiere to hear Dheerasena’s idea of courage.
Do give a listen to Smrithi Surender on her experience playing Dheerasena in Mayaangi.