MALAYSIANS KINI Transforming lives with movement. That is the motto of an initiative set-up two years ago by two best friends, targeted towards underprivileged children around the Klang Valley.

The founder of LS Creation, Lavanya Selvaratnam, is a psychology lecturer with a background in Biomedicine. Her partner, Saisuetha Satchithanatan, is a civil engineer.

Both of them share a love for the Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam.

Lavanya started dancing at the age of six and it has now been over 30 years. “My mother first took me to the dance class when I was four. But because Bharatanatyam is taught by a teacher who holds a stick... that’s how the basic music is taught. When I saw the teacher, I ran away,” she recalled.

Saisuetha, on the other hand, was 21 and had just completed her degree in civil engineering when she decided to pursue her passion for the dance.

With their combined experiences, they embarked on a journey to share how the dance has transformed their own lives with other young girls.

The two currently run weekly classes for children from low-income areas around Lembah Subang, as well as at several children’s homes.

After all the hard work, LS Creations recently staged their first Bharatanatyam public performance, featuring some 40 students.

They recently sat down with Malaysiakini for an interview over coffee and shared the ups and downs of teaching the girls, and life lessons behind the ancient art form.

Here is their story, in Lavanya’s own words: