Ballet nimbles its way into prominence

While the capital's cultural milieu is not unfamiliar to dance forms, ballet, with its soft movements that resemble a river sashaying down hills, spreading over valleys, and cascading through turns with a tip-toe, is new.

- ASHLEY FEJO

While the capital's cultural milieu is not unfamiliar to dance forms, ballet, with its soft movements that resemble a river sashaying down hills, spreading over valleys, and cascading through turns with a tip-toe, is new. Yet, unbeknownst to many, this very dance form has had a presence in the city for the past ten years.

Isha Mahesh, known as Khushi among her students, and her dance school, On Pointe, has taught ballet to over 150 students since 2015, when it was established.

The Mumbaikar was trained in ballet since childhood. Her life was around the swan-like hand gestures and body movements that blended into melodious music till the time an ankle injury forced her to slow down.

She then moved to Thiruvananthapuram, where she started to train in Indian classical dance forms and martial arts, albeit with a pain of realization deep down that she would never be able to pursue her dream of ballet.