Eight years of Bharatanatyam, arangetram talk had just started, and now she wants to stop

my daughter is 15 too and dropped keyboard after 6 years last year. i made her finish the grade exam she was halfway into and then let it go. she hasn't touched it since but she also doesnt resent us for it, which was my main fear. is there a smaller finishing point than the arangetram

I have not been in exactly this position, so please take this as opinion. 'It feels like ours now' is the most important line in your post. I would want to understand what she means by it before deciding anything, because the answer to 'should she stop' may be different from the answer to 'should she stop with this teacher, at this pace'.

Could she take the summer off without anyone calling it final? Sometimes they need to miss a thing to know. If she doesn't miss it by August, you'll both have your answer, and Ba will have had a few months to get used to the idea ❤

my 11 yr old dropped tabla last year. back at it now, her idea. stopping isn't always the end

The arangetram itself is probably part of it. At 15 that's a huge public thing, with the whole family circle watching. Our 14 year old backed out of a solo at a school concert for exactly that reason and only told us months later. Might be worth asking whether it's the dance she wants to quit or the performance.

Speaking as the kid in this story, decades ago: I was made to sit my final music exam at 16 when I badly wanted to stop. I passed, and didn't sing a note for twenty years. These days I sing to my nephew constantly, so maybe it comes back on its own schedule :)

ba's disappointment is real but it isn't your daughter's to carry. that's a conversation between you and ba, separately