Pathos Review by Jen Bush

Shreya Rawat is a dancer and choreographer hailing from Delhi, India.  After securing a spot as a senior member of DanceworX in India, where she danced and instructed, America welcomed her dancing feet with open arms.  You can catch her this summer dancing her way around Queens in the Queensborough Dance Festival as a dancer with The Gotham Group.  Ms. Rawat is competent in many styles of dance.  Her versatility makes her an ideal choreographer.

One crowning achievement for Ms. Rawat as a choreographer was having her senior choreography project staged at the George Rowland White Theatre in Pittsburgh, PA.  In a past interview, Ms. Rawat talked about how it felt to see her work being performed on that stage. “As a freshman I watched so many of my idols choreograph on that stage, and it seemed surreal to see my work on the same stage!” The name of the piece is called Pathos.

Pathos is a word associated with sympathy and sadness.  The dance piece choreographed by Ms. Rawat was anything but.  This dance had two sections.  The first one was an ensemble piece.  The dancers wore black tops with gorgeous flowing skirts the color of garnet.  The graceful expressive motions of the dancers swept across the stage to a musical tune from India.  The clever choreography can be described as ballet meets Bollywood.  The second part of the dance was a duo piece.  There was more angst associated with this dance.  The dancers looked as if they were expressing a fight through the medium of dance.

Ms. Rawat choreographed an ambitious, compelling and beautiful piece.  She has a wealth of experience at her young age since she has been choreographing since the age of 15 with DanceworX.  Whether she’s dancing or choreographing, it’s evident that dance is what Shreya Rawat is meant to do.  She is happily dancing her way to success in the U.S.