Costumes and jewellery for my little dancers

Hi my name is Debbie and I am the Artistic Director, and Dance Teacher at Satyam School of Dance and Music in Milton Keynes.

Satyam is a non-profit dance school and as the director it is my aim to pass on the beautiful and traditional classical dance form of Bharatanatyam (South Indian Classical Dance) to the next generation of youngsters in the UK. As a result as a teacher I do not take an income from the school, which is why I continue to work as a special needs and paediatric dentist for the NHS four days a week, alongside teaching and performing in the evenings and at weekends.

Satyam school of dance and music was established in the memory of my late father local Milton Keynes GP Dr Satya Brata Ganguli, with the encouragement of my late mother Mrs Swati Ganguli - who were instrumental in my own dance training through the selfless sacrifice of taking my sister and I to London every weekend from the age of 11 to learn Bharatanatyam and Carnatic Vocal Music.

The school was set up in 2017 in my living room with just one student, and has grown since then with nearly 40 students ranging from the youngest at just 5 years old to adults (not in my living room anymore of course!). The students follow the ISTD syllabus for Bharatanatyam and alongside their grade exams love to perform at various community and charity events around Milton Keynes and the surrounding areas.

I have always felt very strongly about not putting pressure on my dance parents when it comes to purchasing costumes, children grow so quickly and it would be unfair to ask parents to buy costumes that can sometimes cost as much as £100 each every year - so the school has tried as best as possible to use funds to purchase costumes for the students for their performances - costumes that can be used again and again, and passed down the age groups when needed.

The senior dance group age 11-19 as a result have beautiful costumes bought for them from school funds (as seen in the cover photo) - each costume is hand stitched by professional Bharatanatyam Costume Tailors based in India.

This year is the first time I will be presenting all of the students in a whole school annual show - Natyanjali a festival of dance - I have hired a theatre and a technician as well as a professional photographer so that each of the children have a memento of this milestone event for the school - the cost of which is being fully covered by the school through the money made in class fees, along with studio costs for rehearsals. However this means there is little left for costumes and jewellery, and sadly an application made to the Arts Council was turned down so now....I am now trying to raise funds so that my youngest students Age 5-11 - (many of whom will be performing for the first time in a professional theatre) - have lovely new costumes to wear for their dancing along with the traditional Bharatanatyam jewellery.

The costumes that I will buy for them will stay within the school and can be enjoyed by the current students as well as students in the future.

I have always funded the purchase of costumes myself so in return for the kind donation from others towards the costumes we need - I will be donating 10% of all ticket sales from our annual show Natyanjali to the British Heart Foundation in memory of Baba and Ma (my parents) who both died of heart conditions.

Thank you so much everyone for your time and your help