Interview with YoungArts Award Winner and Bharatanatyam Dancer Prarthana Prashanth

The University of Illinois Chicago is teeming with motivated, talented students. One such student is Honors student and Biology major Prarthana Prashanth: YoungArts award winner, community service leader, and researcher.

The question is, how did Prarthana become such a leader in her community? When she was young, she was a student at Natya Dance Theatre, the first Bharatanatyam dance school in Chicago. Her gurus were Hema Rajagopalan and Krithika Rajagopalan, both of whom have played a huge role in inspiring her interest in Bharatanatyam, an Indian classical dance.

“My gurus have shown me the power of abhinaya, or expression in conveying messages to the audience,” Prarthana said. “Every class I learn something new about the nuances in expressing, and slowly I am learning to come out of my shell.”

Hema and Krithika Rajagopalan  have passed down what they learned from India, bringing the art form’s combination of nritta (pure dance), nritya (expressions), and natya (drama).  “Since I was young, they have instilled discipline and persistence within me, always encouraging me to try out new and challenging movements, never giving up. Although the art form takes several years to learn, they have been so patient providing me with personalized feedback every step of the way.”

This has translated into many aspects of her life as well. Prarthana has set up her own volunteer organization in Chicago called OneInMath. The program is curriculum-based and runs for ten to twelve weeks in the Fall and Spring semesters. Each volunteer is assigned five students, who are guided throughout the session with the goal of fostering a love for math. It began with only a few students but soon grew to a staggering forty students.

“I started meeting with each of the new locations, presenting the program’s goals and how it works, and conversing with the librarians. At the start of every session, I created flyers for each library to post on their billboards and on social media to get the message out. In addition to this, I tried posting flyers and emailing local high schools to attract high school volunteers. Through these means and word of mouth, the program was able to reach the six libraries it runs in today,”  Prarthana said. “It is amazing to see that the program has given over 5,500 hours of service so far with 200 students taught each week by 45 high school volunteers.”

“Students and volunteers can register for their library of choice at www.oneinmath.com. Registration for the Fall 2022 session will begin in August,” Prarthana said.

Her achievements haven’t stopped there. During this previous academic year (2021-2022), Prarthana, as a Freshman, invented the PeelTowel with her research team in order to directly address the buildup of waste and lack of hygiene access in third world countries.

“After discovering that Lime, Orange, and Kiwi fruit peels contain antibacterial Vitamin C and water-absorbing cellulose, the same compound paper towels are composed of, we decided to create the PeelTowel: an antibacterial hand towel made from fruit peels. We tested the products’ antibacterial capabilities at Feinberg School of Medicine – an unforgettable, incredible experience. We found the Lime PeelTowel to be a success, killing around 95% of E.coli. Hoping to share our findings with the community, we published a paper in a peer-reviewed student journal and presented it to the Aurora and Naperville mayors. We were also named as the 2018 Illinois Google Science Fair State Winner.”

Prarthana’s many commitments have also earned her the title of YoungArts award winner. This has opened doors to microgrants in order to carry out her own artistic projects as well as a variety of professional artistic workshops and a large network of other artists.

“I recently attended a workshop on vocal music and the music production process. It was so inspiring to hear vocalists from the industry share their experiences, motivating me to continue along this process,” Prarthana said.

For Prarthana, Bharatanatyam dance is more than just a dance form. She finds it takes away her worries as, through codified hand gestures, her characters convey their messages to the audience. She sets aside time during the week for dance, but she always ensures her weekends are open for family and friends.