Senior Spotlight 9

by Sonia Ivancic

Raina started dancing early in her life at Shishya when she was seven years old. Inspired by her mother’s dream of learning Bharatanatyam, she continued dancing to carry this forward.

One of her earliest memories was of the long rehearsals leading up to our grand 2019 Dance Drama rendition of the Jungle Book, where she played the main role of Mowgli, getting to dance with many of the older girls as well.

Her dance journey continued from there, as she was part of the Carnegie Hall group in 2020, her favorite event, of many, she has performed with Shishya. In group classes, she most enjoyed learning the Intermediate 1 classic Dashavatar and thought the Durge Thillana was the most challenging.

Raina completed her Arangetram in November of 2022 and has been a backstage helper and supporter for many of her friends’ Arangetrams as well. As her time at Shishya ends, Raina is most grateful for the community here that feels like family and for Guru Sukanya most of all, who has been a second mom to her, teaching not just dance but growth and self expression. Raina will be attending the University of Maryland for Animal Science. Congrats Raina! We will miss you here at Shishya.