A review by kindredbooks
Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes by Mahak Jain

3.5

In Bharatanatyam in Ballet Shoes, Paro is nervous about her first day at ballet class. She knows how to dance the Bharatanatyam as she dances it with her mom, but ballet looks and feels so different. Paro gets discouraged when she has trouble with the different form of dance and feels that she may need to give up on dancing Bharatanatyam in order to be successful in ballet class. Her mom shows up at the next class and performs for the class - with the ballet teacher! Soon, the students including Paro are mesmerized with wonder at how beautiful and complementary these two forms of dance can be. This story shows that dance is joyful and that two different cultures can coexist in beautiful ways without giving up on any particular identity. The story encourages all forms of dance as Paro's classmates themselves also come from different dance backgrounds and experience.