Grades at Mudra

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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

• 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

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