When 15-year old Nina Khilnani performed her Bharatanatyam arangetram in Seattle, her family used the occasion to pay respect to their family roots in Mylapore. Nina’s father Sunil was born in Mylapore and their family resides close to the Mylapore temple. In 2019, Nina had performed Bharatanatyam inside the Sri Kapali Koil, and snippets of this performance were played at her arangetram.
Nina has been trained by guru Vidyalakshmi Vinod at the Nrityalaya Dance School in Seattle for the past 10 years. Her family in Mylapore could not attend in-person because of travel restrictions, but were able to watch the livestream through YouTube Live.
Nina studies in 10th Grade at North Creek High School near Seattle, and says she has aspirations to continue learning, performing and teaching Bharatanatyam in the years to come.
