Classical Indian dance, taught grade by grade

1. 01

   Grade 1: First steps

   Ages 6 to 8

   Skills

   • Standing and sitting in the bent-knee position that every step starts from

   • Adavus, the basic steps, one at a time

   • Saying a rhythm aloud and clapping it before dancing it

   • A first few hand gestures, and what each one means

   Moving up

   When the teacher sees the steps are steady and the counts are clear, and the family agrees. There is no test.

2. 02

   Grade 2: Linking steps

   Ages 8 to 10

   Skills

   • Adavus in sets, at three speeds

   • A first opening piece, the alarippu

   • Hand gestures held in a line, with eye and neck movements

   • Keeping the count while the teacher sings

   Moving up

   The teacher talks it over with the family after a session. A dancer may spend another session in the grade, and that is fine.

3. 03

   Grade 3: First dances

   Ages 10 to 13

   Skills

   • The jatiswaram, a dance of steps and rhythm with no story

   • Longer sets of adavus across the floor

   • Dancing a piece to live singing or a recording

   • Standing and traveling together as a group

   Moving up

   When the piece is steady from the first count to the last, in the teacher's view and the dancer's.

4. 04

   Grade 4: Expression

   Ages 12 to 16

   Skills

   • Abhinaya, telling a story with the face and hands

   • A padam, a short piece of song and story

   • Hearing a line of song and learning what it says

   • Preparing a piece for the annual performance

   Moving up

   The teacher decides with the dancer and the family, usually at the end of a session.

5. 05

   Grade 5: Full pieces

   Ages 14 and up

   Skills

   • A varnam, the long central piece of a program

   • A tillana, the closing dance of quick steps

   • Planning a program with the teacher

   • Rehearsing with live singing and drums

   Moving up

   A solo debut, the arangetram, is the teacher's decision, made with the dancer and the family. The school sets no age and no time for it.

• 

  Vidya Seshadri

  Director and teacher

  Vidya opened Mudra and teaches most of the older grades and the adult evening. She learned Bharatanatyam as a child and speaks Tamil with families who prefer it. She answers the school phone on Saturday mornings.

• 

  Madhav Nanda

  Teacher, Grades 1 and 2

  Madhav teaches the early grades and helps older dancers with counting and rhythm. He speaks Hindi with families who prefer it, and he is usually the first teacher a new family meets at the door.

Sample reviews.