Kruti Dance Academy’s fabulous, custom-built studio in Duluth
and the dozens of impeccably scripted and performed arangetrams
of its students stands as a testament of this guru’s stature as
an Atlanta doyen of Bharatnatyam. The high profile
appearances of her students in popular national television
shows such as America’s Got Talent and Chak Dhoom Dhoom in
India further highlights her outlier success.
(Left) Poise, grace, beauty, and talent define this veteran exponent of Bharatnatyam in Atlanta. (Photo: Jessica McGowan of Art of Life Photography)
Behind the uncommon composure and the self-assured and friendly smile lies a fierce commitment to her academy, her students, and
her art form. Indeed, there’s more to Dina Sheth, Founder-Director of Atlanta’s Kruti Dance Academy, than a veteran personality. Her serenity and warmth hide years of unswerving dedication and hard work
devoted to spreading the richness of Indian culture and heritage in
her adoptive country through the medium of classical dance. Today,
Kruti Dance Academy, the institution that she heads with her daughter Shemoni Parekh, is making waves across America’s multicultural
landscape as a cutting edge Indian dance school that attracts students from varied communities.
Kruti Dance Academy students with their beloved “Dina Aunty” at
the breathtaking entrance of the new studio.
It was marriage that brought Dina from India to the USA, where
she pursued her education in Microbiology at George Washington University. But fate had other plans for this young wife and mother. At a
Jagjit Singh concert that her husband Jayesh and she attended with
baby daughter Shemoni, Dinaben (as she is now commonly known in the community) was amazed at the little girl’s spontaneous response
to Singh’s classical ghazals: “She was barely a year old and she was
tapping her fingers to the rhythm of the music! That moment is what
inspired me; I wanted my daughter to stay connected to her Indian culture as she grew up in America.”
That tiny yet powerful moment of revelation led to Dinaben’s
teaching Bharatanatyam in 1995, “mainly to teach my children and some other children in the neighborhood, for cultural enhancement.” It was a humble beginning that started in her basement. At the time, she had no idea where the journey would take her. “I started with five students, spent two hours with each family to convince them that I can teach and
I can make a difference in their child’s lives. I had not imagined at all
that dance would take me to this extent. The academy grew and grew,” she says with pride.
(Right) An exponent in the making: As a young student of Vadodara’s College of Indian Music, Dance, and Dramatics, affiliated to the prestigious M. S. University.
Dinaben’s story begins with her musically oriented
mother deciding to enroll her along with her
sister for classical dance and music lessons respectively
in their home town of Vadodara (Gujarat). She
recalls how her mother never gave them a choice—the enrollment was pretty much a given that the girls
were expected to embrace.
For nearly 12 years, “week in and week out” Dinaben
attended Vadodara’s College of Indian Music,
Dance, and Dramatics, affiliated with the prestigious
M. S. University. Ever so slowly, Bharatnatyam
grew on her. “I think I understood more and more the
value of Bharatnatyam with each consecutive phase
in my life: college, marriage, and then having a daughter
of my own.”
(Left) Sheth and her daughter Shemoni with her guru, Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar,
and Smt. Jaya Chandrasekhar during the grand opening
of the new Kruti studio. (Photo: Gregory Job)
Dinaben’s singular focus on artistic excellence
was honed by her many gurus. The late Shri Kubernath
Tanjorkar was among her first mentors. Later,
she trained under Shrimati Anjali Merh and Shri
Professor C.V. Chandrasekhar, who had learned
dance from Bharatanatyam’s iconic modern pioneer,
Rukmini Devi Arundale.
Settling down in the U.S., Dinaben began volunteering
at the schools of her children, Shemoni and
Romeen. That, too, powered her growing desire to further
the reach of Indian classical dance in America:
“Being a volunteer in the American school system
(a system which I had never gone through) really
taught me why it is important to teach Indian classical
dance in America. I wanted to use dance as a
platform to teach cultural values, self-esteem, and
pride in our lineage.”
Dinaben has lost track of the number of dance
students she has mentored in the course of her family’s
relocations from New Jersey to Connecticut,
Washington D.C., and finally Atlanta. “In Connecticut
I remember having 5-7 students, in New Jersey having
10-15 students. When we moved to D.C., I had about
25-30 students; when we moved to Atlanta, I started
all over again with five students. Now, to be honest
with you, I do need to track myself one day and
figure out exactly how many students I have taught!
But I would say the numbers are now in thousands.”
Along the way, awards and accolades have flowed
in. The India House of Worship, Maryland bestowed
the “Dedicated Instructor” award upon her in 1993.
The India American Cultural Association in Atlanta
recognized her contribution to culture with the
Artistic Excellence award in 1997 and 2002. Dinaben
is frequently invited to judge classical and folk dance
competitions and beauty pageants nationally.
Out of 100,000 acts submitted for consideration in the popular
TV show, America’s Got Talent, the Kruti team made it to the top
400 at Orlando, Florida and then the top 100 at Las Vegas. Later,
they were invited directly into the top 25 in the wildcard show
as the favorite act of host Piers Morgan. Seen here is the team with
Mr. Morgan.
Even as Kruti Dance Academy grew in strength,
Dinaben realized that for Bharatanatyam to gain
traction in mainstream American culture, she would
have to step out of the comfort zone of classical tradition
and take the dance form into unexplored territory.
That bold initiative has paid off handsomely.
In 2010, Kruti’s students performed in the popular
reality show, America’s Got Talent. Out of 100,000 acts,
the Kruti team made it to the top 400 at Orlando,
Florida and then the top 100 at Las Vegas. Dinaben’s
eyes light up as she recalls the excitement: “The top
100 teams were invited to perform in Vegas for one
last round to choose the top 48 teams to perform
for the live show in Hollywood. They loved us, but
we unfortunately did not make it through. Little did
we know that in a few short weeks we would be invited
directly into the top 25 in the wildcard show as
Piers Morgan’s favorite act! Hollywood was an experience
that we will never forget!”
Speaking of taking Bharatnatyam into unexplored
territory, purists have always rolled their eyes
at the Indian film industry’s commercialized—some
would just say crass—adaptations of classical dance.
At Kruti, Dinaben and Shemoni decided to take the
road less traveled, blurring the lines between ‘filmi’
dance and the purely traditional art form. Why so?
“Years ago there was a time when I used to just teach
Bharatnatyam. It was only after our Academy grew
in size did I see the relative relatability of Bollywood
when compared to Bharatnatyam. It was then that I
decided if we do not teach our children in the right
way, then they are only going to be learning from the
movies and that may not correctly represent the Indian
culture. We decided to introduce Bollywood in a
very rich form, one in which children can enjoy, but
also respect the Indian culture. With regards to how
we teach Bharatnatyam, we have not compromised on
adherence to its traditional form. So it is not that we
have lost the traditional aspect of Bharatnatyam at all;
rather we have introduced Bollywood as an additional
course so that we can have more children interested
in Indian culture.” Kruti’s current repertoire is a varied
one, ranging from Bharatanatyam to fusion, Bollywood,
Mommy & Me, and dance fitness classes.
The Kruti team performing in Chak Dhoom Dhoom, India’s highly
popular dance reality show.
In 2011, Dinaben’s innovative approach to fusing
classical traditions with elements of popular dance
earned the academy an invitation from ‘back home’—an opportunity to participate in India’s hugely popular
dance reality show Chak Dhoom Dhoom, aired on Colors
TV channel. Kruti was selected to represent the
U.S. at the Mumbai-based show. Here, too, Shemoni’s
leadership and brilliant choreography powered the
7-member team to the Top 9 level. For her young
students, the trip to India was a memorable and
thrilling experience. Dinaben’s bold experiments
and the global exposure have taken her academy to
new heights: the icing on the cake—an invitation for
Kruti to perform at the Nobel Peace Gala in Atlanta
late this year.
At the core of Dinaben’s passion for dance lies the
belief that dance molds a child’s personality, inculcating
lifelong values. “Dance, I believe, teaches a tremendous
amount of discipline;
when that discipline is taken to
a higher level, it reaches a spiritual
level. When I was young,
I didn’t enjoy dance, but after
three or four years of training,
I understood how much it
helped me in my day-to-day
activity. And that is what we
try doing with our students—gradually inculcate the love of
the art form while establishing
personal and work ethic.
Our students learn so much
discipline and time management.
This builds their personality,
it develops their leadership
skills, and it teaches them
the art of presentation, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
Dance has a lot of advantages which young
children don’t foresee in the beginning, but they
start feeling after 3-4 years of training.”
Keynote speaker for the 2014 Women’s Conference at
BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir of Atlanta.
The teacher herself is a shining example of
self-confidence, self-esteem, and leadership. Her
influence now extends well beyond the sphere of
Bharatnatyam. As an inspiring South Asian artist,
entrepreneur, and leader, Dinaben is frequently
invited as a speaker. She was the keynote speaker
for the 2014 Women’s Conference at BAPS Swaminarayan
Mandir of Atlanta.
Every successful enterprise has a great backend
team; Dinaben gives full credit to her family—husband and parents-in-law—who helped and
supported her through the years while her children
were growing up. “Unfortunately, both my mother-in-law and father-in-law have passed away; they
are no longer with me. But their role was incredibly
important in my life. They encouraged me. My
husband Jayesh has also always been with me 100
percent! His support when my children were young
was invaluable. When I used to teach on weekends,
he used to take care of the children; he has always
supported me throughout.
Even to this day and age, he is
always my backbone; I could
not have done it without him.”
As founder and director of Kruti Dance Academy, Sheth has
presided over nearly a hundred arangetrams of her students. (Photo:
Gregory Job).
Kruti Dance Academy is
completing 20 years in Atlanta
and by the end of this summer
over 100 Kruti students would
have performed an arangetram.
The institute is going places
under Shemoni’s leadership,
something that gives Dinaben
tremendous inner satisfaction:
“Her creativity, her knowledge,
her vision has improved
the dance studio and brought
it to a new generation and at a
different level.”
Time for Dinaben to sit back and relax, perhaps?
Not likely! The passion for dancing burns brightly
as ever. “I absolutely love dancing. I cannot imagine
enjoying my life without dance. It gives me a lot of
joy deep down inside. I don’t think I have a life
without dance, I don’t think I have a life without
the studio. I will still be here at the studio as long as
my legs and my body work.” Amen to that!