Shefalee Patel was born and raised in a quaint sleepy suburb of Chicago with parents that were proud to be American and proud of their Indian Roots. Shefalee’s mother, Vanleela Amin, was a strong proponent of retaining the Indian heritage through folk dance, music, food and Indian cultural programs. Vanleela Amin often said to her children, “we are proud to be Indian American. If America doesn’t understand who we are and where we came from then we have to tell them and show them through our dance, our food, our music etc. because we are also Americans.”

Through the example of her mom, Shefalee has chosen the performing art of dance and visual arts to use as her catalyst to create cultural connections throughout the Creative Charlotte Community.