Children’s Little Theatre

Kolkata, January 5 2024

ADITHI & JIYON

At our first stop in Kolkata, Jiyon and I both had the opportunity to perform at a venue called CLT (Children’s Little Theatre). From the day after we arrived at Kolkata, we had rehearsals everyday at the CLT stage, rehearsing our show. This was so different from what we have normally experienced because we rarely have the opportunity to rehearse multiple times on the same stage we perform.

CLT holds a great significance in the history of our dance school. As students, our connection to CLT runs deep, especially considering that our teacher, Sukanya Mukherji, received her training there. Performing on the same stage where she once danced was a thrilling experience, and was a huge opportunity that we were lucky to have received.

Performing with an older group on our dance tour in India was super fun! At first, the rehearsals and practices with a more experienced group of dancers was challenging, as we weren’t used to the faster paces and the rigorous footwork that came along with the dances, but their countless help throughout the process made it fun and allowed us to connect deeper with them.

The opening segment of our CLT show was titled “Rhythms of the World”. This part of the show took parts of music from cultures all across the world and was set to Odissi dance. Adithi and I took part in a number of dances from this segment such as Native American, Australian, Chinese, and our personal favorite, African dance. This was a duet that we did which we had performed the previous summer, and were looking to perform again. The dance was a crowd favorite due to the energetic beats and the fast footwork. We loved performing in India, specifically, CLT, and getting the opportunity to perform for a different audience.