STUDENT ORG SPOTLIGHT: Michigan Sahānā

When I left home to come to the University of Michigan, I knew I wanted to join a community that was as dedicated and passionate about the Indian Classical Arts as I was. While walking around Festifall, I saw a booth for an organization called Michigan Sahānā. When I went to talk to the organization’s representatives, I knew that I immediately found the community I had searched for. I spent the next couple of days binge watching performances on their YouTube channel, mesmerized by the talent I was watching and listening to. I knew from then on that I wanted to not only be a part of this organization, but be involved in putting together these performances either by performing or working behind the scenes. My first opportunity to test the waters came in the fall of 2019, my first semester on campus. I worked on the logistics team, working the soundboard during our fall show. I had never worked behind the scenes for a performance of any sort, but everyone who signed up to work for the logs team was very helpful and answered any and all questions I had. I knew that I wanted to continue helping to put together these shows, and I was able to do so for the remainder of my freshman year.

This year, with COVID halting all in person events from happening, we knew we couldn’t have our usual spring show, but we wanted to continue Sahānā’s mission of promoting and preserving the Indian Classical Arts. When our vice president pitched the idea of Kalā Sāgara, a virtual conference in unison with 8 other universities across the country whose missions aligned with ours, I immediately felt the need to join the planning committee. This is an event unlike any other that I have or Sahānā has taken part in, and the opportunity to join the planning stage of such a groundbreaking event was too hard to pass up. The main draw for me was the ability to listen to workshops hosted by my peers, both from Michigan Sahānā and other universities, about a multitude of topics within the scope of the Indian Classical Arts. Michigan Sahānā has hosted a set of “Speaker Series”, and this conference is expanding this initiative to a much larger scale and audience. In addition to the student workshops, the ability to have two professional performances, one music and one dance, is something that many of us, myself included, are looking forward to. This is the first time Michigan Sahānā has ever hosted professional performances, and the ability to work with professional artists is something I never would have thought I could do, but Kalā Sāgara has given many of us the opportunity to come out of our comfort zone and work on aspects of our leadership and teamwork skills while also helping to put together an event unlike any other Michigan Sahānā has done before! Please join us on Michigan Sahānā’s YouTube page on April 10th and 11th at 11 AM EST to watch amazing performances and listen in on informational workshop sessions.