A personality profile written for my JNL 211 class at Syracuse University. This piece covers Revati Mahurkar, the new Co-Producer of SU's DanceWorks Organization.
Personality Profile: Revati Mahurkar
By: Janai Berrocal
Last March, DanceWorks, the largest student-run dance organization at Syracuse University, hosted its annual spring showcase. Sixteen dances of all different styles debuted at the Disco-themed performance, and sophomore dancer Revati Mahurkar was one of the people behind the production.
While being a part of 5 dances herself, Revati also played a pivotal role behind the scenes within the organization’s creative department. As Apparel Chair and Graphics Co-Chair, she designed and distributed all of the merchandise created for it. While recalling the preparation for the show, members of the organization even described Revati as going above and beyond for other positions that she wasn’t even involved in.
Feeling proud of her involvement and hard work to make DanceWorks Disco happen, Revati decided to apply for one of the biggest roles within the entire organization, producer. In DanceWorks, the role of producer is to learn from the directors to better prepare yourself to take over the organization a year later, and with her experience these past two years, Revati felt that she could fit the leadership position well. After a long application and interview process, the past co-producers chose two new producers, with Revati being one of them.
“I was overjoyed and overwhelmed with emotion because I had been waiting for this moment for so long. I really wanted this position because I knew that I’d be able to do a good job and make DanceWorks awesome,” Revati said.
Kendall Hymes, current Co-Director of DanceWorks, feels that other than her co-producer, Ellie, there is no other person better for the job than Revati.
“Overall, she commits so much to the organization. She’s always the first person in the studio, the first person in the auditorium, and the last one to leave, just like us, so I knew this would be the perfect position for her,” Kendall said.
Having danced for over 15 years at a studio back home in Massachusetts, Revati was in search of a way to continue dancing during her time at SU. After visiting the involvement fair in 2022, she was initially nervous to audition for DanceWorks, intimidated by all the dancers who came from competitive backgrounds. Despite her worry, she auditioned and made the cut for two dances her freshman year.
Over a year later, after such a successful showcase, Revati had her sights set on producer. Now that she has the position, she has already begun changing the organization for the better. Having organized the entirety of the DanceWorks’ Google Drive, Revati hopes to make everything more streamlined and efficient to help the organization in the future.
Despite feeling prepared for her new role as producer and eventually director, Revati is still nervous about letting go of the reins a little and trusting the board members to do their jobs.
“One thing that I struggle with is I feel like I can do everything the best, so trying to give other people tasks makes me worry that they won’t do it to the best of their ability,” Revati said.
She fears that this might be difficult at first, as this has been a part of her personality since she was a young dancer making the merchandise for her teen dance team, but is excited to embrace the newfound balance that comes with this leadership position.
“I need to take into consideration that everyone who is new on board or in a different position is also getting used to their roles. I can’t expect so much of them right now. This summer is a good practice round for that before the school year starts,” Revati said.