Nanditha Chevula

A big part of my life was spent learning Bharatanatyam, a traditional Indian classical dance form. Bharatanatyam is used to express stories through dance.

I started Bharatanatyam in the third grade. It was unexpected, but I did not complain since dancing was a great way to get out of doing homework. Bharatanatyam is different from other dances we see. Perfect posture had to be retained; your hands and legs had to be in the correct position, and there were many theoretical aspects to understand. Bharatanatyam has a rite of passage known as Arangetram. It is a graduation ceremony where the student performs everything they learn. Upon finishing this performance, the student has graduated and can now teach. Typically, it takes six years to start Arangetram, but after two years of learning, I had come to the point where I could start my Arangetram training. Unfortunately, just as I started training, my family wanted to move, and I had to quit.

At our new place, we could not find another teacher. None of the teachers were close enough for me to attend classes in person. Luckily, we moved again after a year. By some rare coincidence, my new neighbor happened to be a Bharatanatyam dancer and introduced me to her teacher. My parents let me join since I was so close to finishing. However, similar to how a language has different accents, Bharatanatyam has different variations. My new teacher practiced a different style of Bharatnatyam than the previous teacher, so I had to start from scratch. Six years had passed, and just as I was about to begin my Arangetram again, I quit since I was going to college. Sometime in the future, I want to officially graduate from Bharatanatyam.