A Beginner’s Guide to Bharathnatyam: A blog about a new dance class offered by a local studio, this is a good one for the local community.
For those of you who are passionate about dance, love Indian culture and have always wanted to learn classical dancing, this is your chance! St Dance Studio will be offering a class exclusively on the very popular style of Indian classical dance known as Bharathnatyam! Starting in June, this 6 week long course will cover the fundamentals of this beautiful art form. The class will have 2 sessions per week and each session will last for 1 hour. The fee for this course is $300 and includes all material that you need to get started.
Bharathnatyam is one of the oldest classical dances in India. Originating in the temples of Tamil Nadu, it was first performed by women as a form of spiritual expression. Overtime, it has evolved into what it is today – a dynamic, expressive combination of traditional dance moves with more modern choreography (think Bollywood!). The movements themselves are derived from intricate hand gestures known as “mudras” which were used in temple sculptures to tell religious stories. Most modern day performances involve dancers wearing elaborate costumes and jewellery
A Beginner’s Guide to Bharathnatyam:
A new dance class is being offered at st dance studio. This is a great opportunity to learn a traditional and elegant Indian dance. The class will cover the fundamentals of Bharathnatyam, which is one of the oldest classical dance forms in India that originated in Tamil Nadu. The class will be held every Friday from 5-6pm, beginning on October 4th and ending on December 6th, 2019. It is $120 for the entire 10 week course, which you can sign up for here: st dance studio Bharathanatyam Class Signup Page.
The instructor is Ms. Sangeetha Venkatesan, who has been teaching classical Indian dance for 20 years. She learned her art from her parents, who are both well known dancers and choreographers in India. Ms. Venkatesan is based in Columbus, Ohio where she teaches regularly at Sri Partha Sarathi Devasthanam (SPSD).
If you have any questions about the class or registration process, please contact Sangeetha@stdancestudio.com
At st dance studio we truly believe in the power of dance to enrich lives, build community and inspire creativity. That’s why we are so excited to offer our new Beginner’s Guide to Bharathnatyam class. This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in learning this beautiful classical Indian dance form.
Whether you are a longtime fan of the art or have never tried it before, any dancer can benefit from this class. You will learn the fundamentals of Bharathnatyam and its rich history while building confidence in your dancing abilities. This dynamic class will focus on posture, movement and self-expression.
Classes are held on Mondays from 4:00 – 5:30 pm in Building B at st dance studio. The first class is Monday, October 1st. If you have questions about the class please call us at 555-555-5555. We look forward to seeing you there!
Bharathanatyam is a dance that is not only fun to learn, but it’s also a great opportunity to get active and meet new people.
At st dance studio, we are excited to announce our newest class: Beginner’s Bharathnatyam. This dance class is for anyone who has an interest in learning about South Indian culture through the art of Bharathanatyam. If you have always been curious about this type of dancing, then this class is for you!
Classes are on Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:00pm. We offer a free trial class so that you can see if it’s right for you before committing to a full session (4 weeks). The cost for the full session is $120 or $35 drop in fee per class. We hope to see you there!
Three-year-old Ramya was the first dancer to take the stage. She was a confident performer, and her mother watched, beaming, from the back of the room. When Ramya finished dancing, everyone clapped, and Ramya’s mother joined her on stage for a bow.
This is an important moment for Ramya and her family—it is a culmination of years of hard work and dedication to Bharatanatyam dance by both Ramya and her mother. After being accepted into the class last year, Ramya had practiced every day at home to prepare for her performance. Since then, she has been practicing almost every day after school in anticipation of this moment.
It’s not just Ramya whose life has been transformed by Bharatanatyam dance; it is her whole family’s. Her mother has always supported Ramya’s dancing career, but she has never had many opportunities to see her perform in person, as most performances are held in other cities. Now she can attend classes at st dance studio with pride that her daughter is learning classical Indian dance traditions—and that they are in such good hands as this new class at st dance studio!
A beginner’s guide to bharatnatyam dance:
Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form originating in the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring areas. Let’s learn the basic movements in Bharatanatyam with our beginners guide.
Bharatanatyam is one of the oldest classical dance forms in India. This dance form denotes various 19th and 20th century reconstructions of Sadir, the art of temple dancers called Devadasis. It began as a temple dance meant to ‘praise the gods’ but over time, the dance form has evolved to be performed on stage for public entertainment.
Natya Shastra:
The Natyashastra is a Sanskrit Hindu text on the performing arts attributed to sage Bharata Muni. The first complete compilation of Natyashastra is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natyashastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The text, states Natalia Lidova, describes the theory of Tāṇḍava dance (Shiva), the theory of rasa, of bhāva
Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form originating in the temples of Tamil Nadu. It is one of the oldest and most celebrated dance forms in India. The dance form traces its origins back to the Natya Shastra, a text on performing arts by Sage Bharatamuni.
Bharatanatyam is traditionally performed as a solo recital by women and is accompanied by music and a singer. Each aspect of the dance has many layers of meaning to convey Hindu religious themes, spiritual ideas, and devotional poetry. The dancer uses her eyes, hands, face and body in mudras or gestures of expression to depict these ideas. The music that accompanies Bharatanatyam follows rhythmic patterns called talas.
The focus of this 8-week course will be to teach students the basics of Bharatanatyam performance using simple mudras or hand gestures and basic footwork set to traditional Carnatic music compositions. Students will learn about the history of this art form, its origin and evolution, as well as develop an understanding of the spiritual concepts behind it. At the end of the course students will be able to demonstrate their knowledge by performing a short dance piece before an audience!
