It took Daniel Phoenix Singh more than a decade to pursue his childhood passion for Bharata Natyam.
He could do so not in the country of his birth, India.
But in America.
"You may find an irony there," says Singh who began learning Bharata Natyam in the suburbs of Maryland, USA, when he was 20. "I could not afford to learn it in India for good teachers were in great demand and were also very expensive."
Singh grew up in Chennai and left India for America with his family following his father's retirement from the Indian Army.
"We were quite poor in India and learning Bharata Natyam was a luxury, especially for a boy." Being raised a Christian made it difficult for him to convince his parents to let him learn dance.
"I was 17 when I came to America. It is the age for many classical dancers in India to offer their first public performance," he says with a chuckle. "I was preparing to study ballet but I was also trying to learn the dance my heart was really in."
Text: Arthur J Pais. Photographs courtesy Daniel Phoenix Singh
Also read: Chandralekha -- the dancer who defied tradition
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