The Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society’ first kathak Manch Pravesh (Arangetram) and my first solo debut, where I was officially presented as a disciple of Guru Mulla Afsar Khan. A Manch Pravesh is a graduation ceremony, it’s your first steps into the professional world of dance and it matches the grandeur of a wedding. It’s a culmination of years of the student’s gruelling training and a test of the Guru’s preparation, while the public plays judge.
Not having any prior Manch Pravesh to guide mine off of, we felt lost to some extent but chose to enjoy the flexibility and set the standards on our own terms. Here’s a short highlights clip of my Manch Pravesh, performed on 8th August 2016 at the National University of Singapore’s 500 seater University Cultural Centre Theatre:
Sunena Gupta 