BALLERINA OF THE MONTH – JULY 2018

As the torrential rains lash our city, creating potholes on the roads and the muddy waters overflow through the ill-equipped drainage systems, our romanticised notions of the rainy season slowly turn to those of sheer inconvenience. However, as the proverbial silver lining to every dark cloud, we at LDAB come like a ray of hopeful sunshine to brighten up your day as we crown Anshika Rath as the “Ballerina of the Month” for July 2018.

The beautiful AnshikaRath in her ballet class

AnshikaRath, 11, with her infectious smile is a ballerina with tremendous potential who has been training at LDAB for over a year. She is now in Grade 2 of the curriculum.

Dancing and Anshika go back a long way. She’s learnt Odissi, an ancient dance form which speaks volumes of the cultural heritage of the state of Orrisa, which is also where the Rath family has their roots. Moreover, she has also been an enthusiastic student of modern Bollywood dancing for over 3 years before joining LDAB

AnshikaRath with her proud parents

Her mom Smruti Rath, an engineer who’s now blissfully settled into being a homemaker, recalls how the mother-daughter duo decided to give ballet a try and if it clicked, Anshika could take it up further. And yes, it did click very well, with all of Anshika’s hesitations vanishing after the initial classes and then she took to ballet like fish to water. 

On being quizzed on her student, our Creative Director Neha Suhjani narrates,

“One of the striking aspects of Anshika’s ballet technique is the gracefulness of her movements. Her background in Odissi enables her to embrace ballet in a manner a non-classically trained dancer never can. It goes on to clear the widespread misconception of classically trained dancers finding it hard to adapt their bodies to the art form that is ballet.  Her inquisitive nature is another notable feature that sets her apart.”

Anshika’s mom gleams with pride, and rightfully so, as she talks about her daughter,

“She’s a very sincere child. Whenever she’s handed a task, she will responsibly endure to finish it in a rightful manner. I witnessed her team-player and leadership skill set at our residential society’s Art Exhibition where she got together all the children, meticulously planned the art-work they would make and put on display and the final outcomes were remarkable. “

Anshika loves cooking, and here she is brilliant at it

Amit Rath, an IT specialist and Anshika’s dad, who also devours eagerly all the delicious dishes that his daughter cooks for him: from Chili Paneer to even a few Chinese specialities, has a curt response when asked to comment on Anshika’s pursuit of ballet,

“I want Anshika to be sincere and put in a 100% in any endeavour that she takes up.”

Anshika does surely pay heed to her father’s words. She stands in the top 3 in her class at the Delhi Public School when it comes to academics, reassuring her parents that she can juggle all her commitments well. She and her friends from LDAB, Lavanya and Tanishka, get together and practise ballet after class at home with the help of Youtube.

Anshika chirps on in her sweet innocent voice,

“I love multitasking. I think I’ll be an entrepreneur when I grow up. But despite all that workload, I’ll surely find time for the things I love: Dance and Painting. I wish I have a beautiful dance studio like the new one at LDAB. Neha Ma’am is an inspirational figure in my life.”

Dressed as Princess Fiona, Anshika has participated in the 2017 Ballet Performance – Once Upon a Time

Taking a break from our chat, Anshika proceeds to make tea, and her mom reminisces about her daughter’s first performance as a ballerina at the Once Upon a Time Concert held in December last year,

“She looked ethereal in her Aqua-green full sleeved embellished costume and her performance on stage was a memory for a lifetime. All the nervousness which she might have felt before stepping onto the stage simply evaporated when the music began. It was a proud moment for both me and my husband as parents.”