Adhya Shastry, A 17-year-old India Origin Girl Wins BBC Young Dancer 2022

Seventeen-year-old Adhya Shastry who started dancing Bharatanatyam when she was 9 years old, won the BBC Four competition recently. Since age nine she has been discovering modern and contemporary dance. She is now a member of the 2021-22 National Youth Dance Company.

As per BBC reports, Adhya, who is studying for her A-Levels, articulated that triumphing in the title had opened up "endless possibilities" for her. The grand final for BBC Young Dancer 2022 saw 10 talented dancers between the ages of 17 and 24 compete for the title at London's Roundhouse.

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Adhya Shastry Wins BBC Young Dancer 2022

"I am very excited and happy about Adhya's success as the BBC Young Dancer 2022. She has been a worthy winner displaying the versatility of movements, strong technique and expressive emotions of Abhinaya skills. Many young girls will be inspired by Adhya's achievement and take forward the learning of the Indian classical dance styles in the UK. This is a moment of pride for all of us and I wish Adhya further success in the field of creative arts," said her dance teacher, Ananya Chatterjee to SheThePeople. She has been her instructor since she began dancing.

Adhya is also trained in contemporary and ballet, and is a member of the National Youth Dance Company, said she "learnt so much" in the course of the competition.

Adhya’s future goal is to preserve dancing and appreciate wherever dance takes her. Wanting to work with and learn from lots of different artists, she is also creating her own vocation and probing her way of training.

Ananya further adds, “Adhya has been training under me since the age of nine (she is 17 now) and has always been a very enthusiastic and energetic member of our performing arts group, always ready to experiment and learn new choreography.”

A televised national dance competition, BBC Young Dancer is publicised on BBC Four and BBC Two since 2015. The competition, inspired by the achievement of the biyearly BBC Young Musician of the Year, is invented for British amateur dancers of ballet, contemporary, hip hop and South Asian dance, all of whom must be aged between 16 and 20.

Feature Image Credit: BBC.