Dhirana Movement | innovating, expanding, evolving…

Image of University of Maryland's Moksha dance team

Dancing the Dance (post Arangetram/college edition)

Many dancers and students out there dream of dancing through life, both figuratively and quite literally. I mean, who wouldn’t?! For some of us this dream is realized but for many more of us, the various demands on our time and resources make it challenging to sustain dance as their sole career or focal point,…

photo of dancer Aswathy Nair speaking into a microphone

An Artist’s Learning Journey through Cultures, Identities and Audience Engagement

written by Aswathy V. Nair, dancer, choreographer, Co-Director of Nrityalaya School of Classical Dance and Music When the Dhirana Movement team approached me with a request to elaborate on my experiences during my performance tour of the U.S earlier this year, I was a bit apprehensive as to whether it is too late to bring…

Stigmas & Sexuality – Valli Uses Poetry and Dance to Challenge Norms

Featured image credit: Center for the Arts, Wesleyan University and Sandy Aldieri of Perceptions Photography A winter storm in the Washington D.C. area does seem like a good time to reflect and think deeply. On that note… Here are two separate excerpts from an academic essay written by Medha Swaminathan (author info below) about a recent performance…

Performance Ready: Advice from the Artists

To round out our Performance Ready series ( how-to videos on preparing for a Bharatanatyam performance – hair, make-up, etc), we decided to collect and share performance advice and insights from prominent artists in the field. Of course technical skill and doing justice to the choreography are of primary importance. Yet, while watching performances ranging from…

Elevating Indian Classical Dance in the U.S. – a Q&A with Anuradha Nehru

In our latest Q&A series, we spoke with Ms. Anuradha Nehru, a highly-accomplished U.S. based Kuchipudi dancer, choreographer and educator, and the founder and director of Kalanidhi Dance. Kalanidhi Dance is an organization committed to elevating Indian Classical Dance in the U.S. though training and presenting high quality dance productions. We spoke with Ms. Nehru recently…

Ascending the Stage: Students in America Speak on Arangetram

Hope all of you have been having a wonderful summer. Below is our second interview with a student from the U.S. as they prepare for their Arangetram. Preethi Ramamurthy, a student of the Srishti School of Dance and Smt. Vani Ramesh will actually be having her Arangetram in India. Preethi offers some special insights into…

Falling In Love with Indian Dance & It’s Evolution with Indira Kadambi – Part 2 of 2

Here’s the long awaited PART 2 of our Q&A with Indira Kadambi, a brilliant and delightful Bharatanatyam artist, choreographer and educator. She was recently back in the Washington, D.C. area working with the Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Company. So the perfect time to once again highlight an expert in the field and a wonderful spirit!…

Ascending the Stage: Students in America Speak on Arangetram

Its not too difficult to find wonderful articles, interviews, videos, etc. on the many renowned and highly accomplished Indian Classical dancers and teachers out there in cyberspace now. We are lucky to have access to the wisdom and insights of such stalwarts in the field, and we are grateful that they are willing to share their…

Falling in love with Indian dance and its evolution with Indira Kadambi – Part 1 of 2

It was an absolute pleasure to have the opportunity to connect with the esteemed, elegant and gracious Bharatanatyam exponent – Indira Kadambi. For those of you who may be unfamiliar, she is an outstanding performer, choreographer and teacher having received her Bharatanatyam training from Smt. Usha Datar, Natyavisharada Narmada and Padmabhusan Smt.Kalanidhi Narayanan. She had her…

Every Dancer is Different – A Q&A with choreographer, performer, Viji Rao

Tighten your core to sustain a pose. Give attention to your body and though adavus must be done correctly, its possible to adjust your movements in subtle ways to suit your unique form. These are just a few examples of helpful insights that I (Malini) remember from my training during my time in Philadelphia, PA…