“I see dance being used as communication between body and soul, to express what is too deep to find for words”, said Ruth St. Denis (1879 – 1968), a modern dance pioneer who co-founded the American Denishawn School of Dance.

This was a fact that a little girl coming from Gordon Street Kitty  knew only too well as she discovered dancing at the Indian Cultural Centre as a student of Shri Pratap Pawar.
Indranie, as a beautiful teenager, gave her first performance at the Deepavali Jalsa.
Now, 37 years after, the dancing communities of Guyana and Sweden where she resided has recently lost one of its brightest stars as Indranie Shah Lennartson left us at only 50 years old.
Indranie, the Indranie of the Nadira and Indranie Shah Dance troupe performed in Guyana for the last time at the 32nd edition of Nrityageet, last year. The annual dance production, which takes its name from a word that means pure song and dance, is the offspring of the troupe, and has become an Arrival Day tradition that is enjoyed by people of  varying cultures and ethnic backgrounds.
About a year after Indranie made her debut, renowned Kathak dancer Pandit Durgalall  arrived in Guyana in 1976 and was part of a growing awareness for Indian heritage and culture in the field of the performing arts. This was later reinforced by Pandit Charan Girdhar Chand. An eager student, Indranie says “Under their expert training and guidance, I gained invaluable experience which laid the foundation of our subsequent contribution to the cultural mosaic of Guyana”.
Certificates of Excellence at Guyana Festival of Arts (Guyfesta) 1977 and 1980, coupled with numerous representations for the Indian Cultural Centre and the Guyana Department of Culture, heralded the advent of Nrityageet dance production with her sister Nadira.
In their first production they included a major dance feature called Dasavatar – the ten incarnations of the Lord Vishnu. A major hurdle was yet to be overcome though; it was very difficult to get people to support two teenage girls. They got their share of boycotts from established organizations who thought that it was a “pie in the sky” dream when the girls explained that Nrityageet would be an annual production. Not easily deterred, however, the girls pressed on and the first Nrityageet was a success. By the second year, the production had reached the stage of the National Cultural Centre.
Performing in New Delhi, New York, Virginia, Sweden, and representing Guyana at Carifesta 1981 in Barbados and the World Trade Fairs – Expo 1998 in Portugal and Expo 2000 in Germany, and having her Swedish group perform a Rajasthani folk dance for Queen Silvia of Sweden at the Conference “New in Sweden” held in Umea, are among Indranie’s international performances. One of her fondest memories is a performance with India’s famous Pt. Charan Girdhar Chand, in a little town far away from the bright city lights of India, in Jodhpur, Rajasthan
In 1984, Indranie was awarded an Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarship to further her studies in Dance in New Delhi, India. She attended the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra from April 1985 to December 1987 and was fortunate to have the young and innovative Vasvati Misra as her teacher and mentor.
Indranie was fascinated by the use of colours in the local clothing as well as other facets of society there. The buildings, the market places, the spices and flowers – all made an indelible impression on her. Experiences such as these helped to form and influence her as a dancer and choreographer. “While in India, I not only received dance instructions in the style of the famous Birju Maharaj, but was able to travel around the countryside absorbing the vast multi-cultural experiences. Nadira, Mom, and I eventually learnt so much more about our cultures, our ancestry, authentic costuming for particular dance styles, dance genres, music type and so much, much more”.
Indranie recalled one particular experience in Rajasthan. “We were visiting a temple complex outside the city of Jaipur. I went off on my own to one of the smaller courtyard temples and sat all by myself. It was so peaceful and for a few magical moments I felt a sense of belonging, that it was all I ever knew, all my life.”
Her Sweden chapter began in 1988, as love led Indranie to Sweden where she married Anders Lennartson. Now a wife and mother to two children produced by the union, Indranie continued to promote her cultural heritage through performing, teaching, workshops and cultural exhibitions that showcased Guyana and its diverse culture in Sweden and in other parts of the world. Indranie Shah had lived for a long time in Sweden, but she maintained contact through the troupe and Nrityageet.
Indranie spoke English and Swedish fluently and studied multiple languages including French, Spanish and Hindi. She completed her Master’s Degree at the University of Umeå, Sweden and at the time of her death was going for a Doctorate. As she pursued her studies, her thesis was based on the retention of Indian languages in the current Guyanese English language.