Indian Classical Arts

At the Father’s Day Assembly I had the pleasure of presenting my Indian Dance students. The girls sang ‘Vande Mataram’, a national song of India, accompanied by their singing teacher Krushna Chandra Ray who played the harmonium and Sam Evans on the tabla. The girls then presented their first Bharata Natyam dance piece demonstrating the foundation technique, including complex footwork patterns set to different rhythmic counts, balancing the movement of the eyes, head, arms and hand mudras precisely to match the footwork … and all of this while looking confident and cheerful. Not easy! They were nervous! It was the debut stage performance for most of the girls. They did a fabulous job remembering their song and the dance steps in front of their friends, teachers and parents. I was indeed very proud of my students and I hope from their first performance they will be inspired to continue to learn the beautiful ancient art of Bharata Natyam.

–Ambika, classical dance teacher