Namskaram !
My name is Anjali Nandan and ‘am currently in Plano,TX, USA. I have been learning Bharatanatyam from the age of 6. The learning has mostly been in Mumbai from late Smt. Madhuri Kelkar. I am a “Nritya Visharad” in Bharatnatyam from Bharatiya Sangeet Samiti.
I have got the good fortune to work along with Padmashri Smt. Hemamalini as part of various dance Ballets. It was a Divine experience working in her productions like “Mahalakshmi”, “Savitri” and “Geet-Govind”. She is a graceful and disciplined exponent of Bharatanatyam.
Apart from online lessons her school Natyam Academy in Plano, TX offers Bharatanatyam lessons to interested students in Dallas/Plano/ Frisco communities.
I am not any expert in the field having seen many greats in this art form. This Blog is a humble attempt to provide some information on the dance form as I have learnt it.
Thanks for your help and encouragement along the way!
Note (Updated Sep 21, 2009): Thanks for all the comments, suggestions and encouragement. I truly appreciate each of that. To enable a better format for our discussion, I have added forums to the website. Request you to discuss your questions and ideas there.
@Divya, the pushpanjali video already has the mooshika Vahana slokam. Thanks
You are simply brilliant and you make everything look so easy. Truly this is a unique contribution u r making and what makes it truly special is that you are giving 1005; not withholding anything. God bless…
halo anjali….. i am a dance teacher and a perfomer… i also reside in USA. this website is a very good effort . thank u…..
hi anjali,it was great to find u ,very helpful for me.actully iwant to know that wat is name of the wodden intrument which u use for teaching?
Hello Anajli mam,
I am not a good dancer & i m 31years old. Is this possible for me to learn bhartnatyam dance form. You have share lots of information through this site. I like it. pl. advice me
@Abhilasha, it is called a Nattuvangam. The wooden one is also called Tatta vadi.
Dear Anjali,
Liked your blog. My elder daughter Jhanavi is in her 4th year of bharatnatyam. Probabaly next year would give her arengetram . I would like to how she can appear for exams in Bharatnatyam .her teacher only provides certificate sfter thge completion of the course. can i personally make her appear for exams. We stay in noida kindly provide me details on this.
Thank you Anjali maam.I had already joined classes which allows me six hours in week. Earlier i had learned upto teermanam .Now let see how i can catch up since i will have to start with from begining.besides the six hours training in classes can you please let me know how much time to devote daily .Also some times i found out that some teachers follow different styles .Once again your all vidoes are inspiring and motivating.If you been in mumbai i would certainly loved to train under you.Thanks once again
namasthe to anjaligaru. i am a big fan of ur dance i regularly visit online bharathanatyam.
anjaligaru where i get the audio songs of bharathantyam, i mean alarippu, pushpanjali……so on.
I m confused as whether I should send my daughter for Visharad classes in Bharatnatyam. Guide me.
Respected Mam,
I Ananya Mukherjee currently worked in a school named The Millennium School Jaipur as a dance teacher.I have already completed my sixth year prabhakar from Prayag sangeet sameeti Allahabad.After marriage i cant complete my course .So now i think that i will complete my course.My query is can i complete the course now? Please give me some suggestions.
Hi Ms. Anjali,
I make documentaries on various subjects and i am composing a dance sequence on Goddess Durga Devi. I want to know what hand gestures are specific to Goddess Durga.
Thank you,
Venkat
India
I lived in Mumbai asa a child and studied Bharatanatyam for 3 years. Now many years later in UK I have been able to refresh my knowledge thanks to your online tuition. I am currently working on Alarippu. Thank you for your clear and helpful teaching. I am still a bit unclear about the steps at the end of the dance but will keep trying!
Namaskaram Anjali mam,
I am 24 years old I have never learned any form of dance before, But i am free style dancer. I want learn Bharatnatyam, Is it ok to start learning at this age?
I am 30 yrs old but short height (5 ft) . Do you think bharatanatyam would suite me? I am trying with your adavu videos . Thanks a ton.
One more question….I wanted to have Bharatanatyam costume. Any idea what style would suite my height and also where can I get it (in US / INDIA)?
hey Anjali ! you are doing a fantabulous job. your videos are very helpfull, easy to understand and are really encouraging. I am 22 yr old. i always had a passion for bharatanatyam. i now got a chance to learn. rite nw in tatta adavu. Bt my teacher keeps telling me that learning bharatnaytam at this age is not alt all possible because the body wouldn’t be flexible enough. Its kinda discouraging me 🙁 Is it possible to learn nw ? I really want to learn bharatanatyam. its my dream. i ws told that the style i would be learning is kalakshetra style. i have no idea abt styles of bharatanatyam. what style are you teaching? pls help me.
Regards,
I want to know is it possible to learn this dance form in any age? and what is the fees if i learn it from your online bharatnatyam site?
Hi Anjali,
Am aconfused mother of the 7 yr old daughter who is very keen on learning Bhartanatyam.
My daughter has already enrolled with local Bharatnatyam classes, some classes teach with the ghunrus some without , since am ignorant about Bharatnatyam can u pls provide me some reference point (maybe a website/book etc) wherein i can find the authentic information about the same…………
It is not my first time to pay a visit this web site, i am visiting this site
dailly and take nice information from here every day.
I liked the information you have give in the mudras but it would be helpful if you also provide the video of the viniyogum for every mudra
thanks
ganga
Hi !
So good to see this website. Its a wonderful thing that you are sharing all about this beautiful art form. I did my arengatrem in Bharatanatyam but have been out of practice since many years owing to work and other things. I am a mother of a kid now but desperately want to start dancing again. I have forgotten so much of it. Hope to refresh and learn from your website now. But I am not sure how I should get back to performing and getting involved actively. I am from Assam and now settled in Mumbai. Looking forward to some suggestions from you and thanks a lot for all the information you have provided in your website.
Rgds
Punam
hi anajali
i m a student and i m learning bharatnatyam from past 3 years and this site has helped me alot understand some things which were given for learning to me…. thanks a lot
Ur great!i am really happy that I am able to Learn bharatnatyam so perfectly from ur videos!for free at home.i have been learning bharatnatyam from the age of 4 and I am having my rangapravesham in three months I am 14years now.please do give me some valuable tips if u have any.thanx a lot again this website rocks!
Hai Anjali Chechi,
i really liked your webpage and the important matters that you have shown
i have completed arangetam in bharatnatyam and i want to continue the dance or what to step to another classic dance
what would you prefer that i should do
thankyou,
Meera Krishnan
hi..suggest some ideas to compose bharatham natyam song.what are the rules and basic …
namaskar,i am 27 years old.in my child hood ican not study baratanatyam.but ihave a great passion about this.now i have 2 children.in this augest 1 i started my learning ,i think u r my guru.and its my humble reqest.please consider me your sishya.daily i learning about 1 hour.it is very difficult to fiexible the body.so daily i work out half hour yoga and half hour phisical exercises before dance class.u r my teacher.
hai, your notes are helpful to learners of bharatham students,your anga suddha very neat ,valkakalai valarka your profossional,
i want to learn bharatnatyam dance from you mam but i stay in delhi & i am very keen to learn please guide me
Hi Anjali Chechi!
Yesterday (28th September)I did my dance.It was great.I used expressions and of course I smiled.I always forgot to smile in my dances before but now I started to smile.When I was dancing I was so scared that I might make a mistake and get mixed up in front of all that people.But I didn’t make a mistake .I did it perfectly.Anyway the hall was big.If you want a picture of my dance please ask my parents and they will send it to yuo through email.
A big thanks for you for teaching me the dance and also a big thanks to Ipshita Chechi aswell.:)
@Milan, Glad to know you had a wonderful performance. Yes I surely would like to see your pictures and videos. Thank you for you kind words and always keep practicing.
hi mam,
i am 27 now can i learn kuchipudi dance ,if i start how many yr take to complete.
namaskaram anjali madam
i would like you to give me the viniyougum of the mudras please i am of class 7 i love this dance form please do me this favour
I just came to know of this site today only.. I really want to thank u for you effort.. I always wished to study dance but i couldnt do it due to family issues.. now i’m a first year student of B.Sc in India and still my love for Bharatnatyam has not died down.. Actually this site has given me new hopes of learning this art.. Please consider me as ur disciple and provide me more lessons of dance..
@Pratibha, atleast 3yrs considering that you have learnt Kuchipudi and can pick up fast.
hi ma’m..im sreechitra…. i m very much interested in bharatanatyam….i know that age is not a problem for learning dance..your videos inspired me a lot and after watching those i had an urge to learn it and now i have joined a dance school for learning it…i have already studied the basics in my childhood , but could not continue at that time. your videos are very helpful to me in my dance classes.. now im 22years old. i just want to know that how many years will it take to perform an arangettam (debut performance) ??? is it possible in 2 years??? please reply… thankyou a lot for your videos…and thankyou so much for being an inspiration for me to begin my dance learning again after a long time… regards sree…
This is a good attempt to improve INDIAN cultute now a days.Thank
you a lot.
Rally .. you are great .. no words …
Your information was very useful. If you are doing a bharatanatyam dance on stage (competition) what would a winner need? I mean like expression etc. Thank-you
Wow, your is really a nice site for people like me who love both classical and modern dancing; expressiveness of the body in Indian classical dancing and the agility of the body in modern dancing.
I am currently doing Multi faith theme with my EHV(Education in Human Values) students. Covered Dasavatar for Hinduism and so wanted to do the dasavathar mudras with them. Checked with your mudras to ensure what I know is correct.
In case you have not realised, the Shikhara hasta for Rama avatar is linking to Sarpa Hasta. Just thought of letting you know.
Thanks for such an interesting site. Take care.
Rani
Namaste mataji:
I am so thanks with you, by let me learned from your yoube videos class. So, I have more presentations even before to hindu ladys dancers and like so much my humble effort. All is by mercy of Sri Radharani that put to you in path of life for to do my bhaktiseva to Lord Sri Krishna. So, please let my to be your diciple always.
Sincerily Radha.
Anjali Madam, Greetings from Kuwait.I would like to introduce myself as Babitha who got a dance school at Kuwait. Got a question to you.Do u have original songs of Alarippu, Thodayam, Ganesha sthuthi and Kunitha puruvavum songs?
I received your mail on the DVD. But Malaysia is not listed in your country list. I want to purchase the DVD and train our children here i have almost 15 children in our temple.
Madam i learned Bhartanatyam for one year from Master Mohan in India.I am willing to learned and continue my Bhartanatyam from you. Can u help me on this matter. I want to learn online from you first before train others.
Madam please give me your contact so that any inquiries i can contact u directly. I need your guide too on this matter.
Thank you madam.
@Vijayalakshmi, thanks for letting us know. We are working on it. Will get back to you soon.
i study bharatanatyam for 6 years under a master .i start learning dance when i was 7 years old now i am 14 and i am still going for programs in school and both out side school .i am from kerala. i like your passion towards dance. i too love dancing.i wish to become a professional dancer.i wish you to be a good dancer
Thanks for your inspiration,Anjali Nandan
Hi Anjali,
My daughter is 12 years old, and has completed her “Junior Diploma Grade V” from “Bharatiya Sangeet Samiti”.
Can you please give me a list of exams in the order they have to be completed?
Also, please explain the roadmap for a Bharat Natyam dancer to follow and grow to be the best.
Regards,
D. Pereira
hi anjali,
first,thank you so much. You won`t believe it but I accutally performed on stage with ur helpful blog. Thnx so much. everyon in New york city loved it.
I would like to know more about bharathanatyam..
Help me to find bharata visharada part 2 syllabus and past papers……Tell me a website to download……Plzzzzzzz….
dr anjali
i just want to know wich style are u following is it kalakshetra style…
do u know wether all these are ther in kalakshetra style…i mean naattadavu itself u have so many variations…thts y …as u know ther are several styles in bharatahnatyam as pandanallor style kalakshetra style kalamandalam style…i want to know about kalakshetra styles..