Senior Spotlight 8

by Eesha Srinivasan

Sonia started dancing at six years old, after discovering Bharathnatyam when watching her neighbor’s arangetram. She remembers starting in Beginners one as one of the youngest students, and how it quickly became her routine to head to the Empower Fitness studio every Saturday morning, where the moms would sit in a row on the side of the studio and watch the class.

From adavus and hasta bhedas to her first annual day, Sonia was excited to experience all the Shishya “firsts”. Her favorite dance is Samaja because the jatis and music are so beautiful. The hardest dance she’s learned has been the Shakti Kauthuvam because it’s a faster piece.

Over the pandemic, Sonia says zoom classes were weird at first but quickly became normal; the hardest part was finding a space big enough to film for the online annual days. It was exciting for her when Shishya transitioned to in-person classes again, as she realized she had forgotten just how fun dance class could be. 

The arangetram track was one of the hardest and most rewarding times for Sonia. She believes her dance skills improved significantly and she loved both her zoom and in-person arangetram classes. Sonia believes doing her Arangetram is her proudest achievement. 

Sonia’s favorite Shishya memories were performing in Carnegie Hall in 2020 and 2025. She enjoyed performing there again as a senior and that it felt really full circle for her. The intense rehearsals in the large gyms were so exciting for her, and she felt the Shishya team’s tight bond.

Overall, Sonia loves that dance class is a safe space and something to look forward to throughout the week. For Sonia, Shishya has never been a competitive environment and always a place where she can share her love for Bharatanatyam while laughing with friends. During her time at Shishya, Sonia has served as the blog co-editor since her sophomore year. She would like to thank the Shishya community for being her second home all these years. She will be heading to Columbia University to study biology and international relations. Congratulations Sonia! The Shishya community will miss you.