As a child watching a cricket match live on television, I remember asking my grandfather, “How does the camera know where to look?” Two days ago, looking at five people sitting […]
Kalakshetra 2015
One year ago, three of us had the privilege of dancing at Kalakshetra in front of my teacher’s teachers. I can’t believe that a year has passed since that wonderful day […]
Performing on 8 May!
I’ve lost count of the number of times people have asked me when we’re performing in Pune. Finally, here we go! The senior students of the Academy of Indian Dances […]
Our Performance on Sunday
Performing for three minutes is often more trouble than it’s worth … not this time, though. People often assume that a three-minute performance is no big deal. Let’s look at […]
Paying a Tribute – Sakal Times
Thank you, Sakal Times, for the article about our Kalakshetra performance!
What Went By
It’s taken me a while to write about the last month. How full of emotions it has been! We performed in Kalakshetra for Pushpa Teacher and Jaya Teacher, my teacher’s […]
Kalakshetra Performance – The New Indian Express
Yes, we really performed. Even though the picture does not show it, I was really there too.
Performing at Kalakshetra!
To say that we are honoured, privileged and humbled all at the same time is to say nothing at all. We are going to perform at Kalakshetra, the place where our […]
Paid Artists
I have been learning dance for 22 years. Yes, that is a lot. Often, people ask us whether this means that we have our own dance classes. No. That is […]
Jatayu Moksham
The Kalakshetra troupe performed in Pune for the first time last evening. Finally. When I watch them dance, I understand. I understand why Kalakshetra is such a reputed name in the dance […]
Arangetrams and Anniversaries
My dance teacher does not remember the exact date of her Arangetram, but she does remember that it was in 1964. Just for today, I’m going to pretend to myself that […]
Arangetram – Chaitrali, Diaspina and Purvi
“How was the Arangetram? How did Chaitrali do?” my mother asked. I had one word in response, “Moving.” And it was moving for more reasons than one. When Chaitrali, despite her […]
Arangetram
The Academy of Indian Dances welcomes you to the Arangetram of Chaitrali, Diya and Purvi. Chaitrali is a special girl with a hearing disability despite which she has persevered and […]
Day One: Abhinaya
The day was full of surprises, with just two participants for our workshop. We had questions about whether we should cancel. We decided against it, and perhaps it was a […]
Abhinaya – A Workshop on Indian Classical Dance
This weekend, we bring to you a dance workshop – Abhinaya …
Performances and Workshops
Many books on dance talk about how the layman likes quick movements and rhythmic pieces. There is a certain amount of condescension when dancers write about quick eye-movements and complicated-looking […]
Technician
I have lost track of the number of times I have been in charge of lights and sound. As a small performing troupe, we can’t always afford a professional lights […]
Nayanabhinaya
What is Nayanabhinaya? Divide the word and we get “Nayana” (eyes) and “Abhinaya” (loosely translated as expression). The eyes are an essential part of Indian classical dance, and that is […]
Ashadi Ekadashi at Prashanthi Nilayam
Standing there, behind the backdrop, we held our breath. We had been working with 43 Bal Vikas children with little or no knowledge of dance since May, and this was […]
Hastaabhinaya – expressing through your hands
Classical dance is a language that has the power to express your deepest emotions. When we learn a language from scratch, where do we begin? When you read, you begin with A-B-C; […]