When she was scouted to compete on the hit YouTube show Mero Dance Universe, sophomore Riya Timsina was thrilled. She had been dancing since she was 4 years old, and this would be an opportunity to expand her horizons.
Unfortunately, she had only been 14 at the time, and the age requirement was 18 and above.
Previously, she had performed Nepali dances in Baldwin High School, community events in the area, and at her family’s and friends’ celebrations.
Timsina and her friends have enjoyed dancing since they were young. She used to take dance classes with sophomore Rushana Lama when they were little.
They joined the group INTRA with their friends when they saw a poster for a free dance class in Pittsburgh. INTRA, which stands for Intra-National Welfare and Support Foundation of America, is an organization “dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting Nepali culture through music, dance, sports, and language,” its website says.
“We saw the advertisement for it, and we were all just like, ‘Oh, let’s join for fun,’ ” Lama said.
It was only after the first few lessons that they realized that their teacher was actually Shankar B.C., a famous dance director and a judge for Mero Dance Universe.
“He’s a great dancer and teacher,” Timsina said. “He is one of the only teachers I know who teaches my dance style. I actually feel like I’m putting in all my energy and effort into my dances.”
As the classes progressed and the students learned different dances, Lama, Timsina, and 12 other students, were chosen to perform a group dance in the first-ever INTRA Cup.
INTRA Cup was a soccer tournament held in Akron, Ohio. During intermission, there were dance performances with students from INTRA classes and singing performances by Nepali stars.
While her dreams of competing in the Mero Dance Universe show were postponed, Timsina greatly enjoyed her time at the INTRA Cup.
“I got a bunch of autographs that day from famous Nepali celebrities,” she said. These celebrities included singers like Anju Panta, whose songs have over 25 million streams on YouTube and are very popular with Nepali dancers, as well as actors like Dilip Rayamajhi.
“I also made many new friends through (INTRA) who shared the same love for dance,” Timsina said.
Since then, they’ve performed in various cities like Harrisburg, Lancaster, and places in Ohio.
Outside of this organization, Timsina and Lama perform in various community events throughout the year.
“We dance at Tamang Loshar, Gurung Loshar, Sakela, school events, birthday parties, weddings, and wherever someone needs a performance,” Lama said.
Given all of their events, and the fact that they don’t all have driving licenses yet, scheduling rehearsals can be tough.
“It gets hard because a lot of us don’t have our licenses yet, so we can’t practice our dances all the time,” Lama said. “And we’re all so busy with school and other community events. It’s our biggest hurdle.”
Despite the issues, Timsina remains steadfast in learning the dances on time. She and Lama usually pick the songs and choreograph for the whole group. Timsina’s leadership and positive attitude shine through in those difficult circumstances.
“Learning dances with Riya was really easy because she’s been dancing since a young age. She’s been choreographing for a long time, so I guess it was easy for her to create steps,” sophomore Kenaliza Rai, who has known Timsina since kindergarten, said.
Even though she mostly dances with a group, Timsina stands out because of the energy and emotions she brings to her movements.
“There was this one time when we were doing the warm-up dance, and I was just looking at her because everyone else was low energy, and she was the most energetic one,” Rai said.
As she grows her skills as a dancer, Timsina hopes to one day compete in Mero Dance Universe and other large competitions.
