Shiwani AcharyaBack

Shiwani Acharya

We remember Shiwani from the very beginning of BOWING. She was a very small Nepalese girl, whose miniature beauty was touching to behold. She had a graceful way of tucking her hair behind her ear and would jump with joy at the end of dances, with small exclamations. She exchanged few words with us but offered a broad smile whenever we arrived at school. In the first performance, Matilde would pick her up and place her sitting on a windowsill, dressed in a sari and illuminated by a spotlight, and the audience would linger as they passed by the street, observing Shiwani. When we saw her again after a few months, adolescence was beginning to work its revolutions, and Shiwani had grown in height and confidence. She approached us with a phone in hand, asking about our lives, expecting a satisfactory answer. The smile, however, remained the same.