Natyarambha- practice Bharatanatyam the digital way

“We hope with Natyarambha you will be able to practice like never before,” said noted Bharatanatyam dancer Ananda Shankar. The word practice has a huge impact and importance in the world of dancers. Being a dancer for the past 16 years- I understand the importance of practice like any other dancer.

Noted dancer Ananda Shankar has come up with a digital app inspired by the government’s digital initiatives- that will enable Bharatanatyam dancers to continue their practice beyond the classroom. The app, contains guided lessons, music and visuals and wide range of practice routines are also available.

What does the practice session consist of?

The online app consists of pre-recorded dance videos of dancers- in which they perform the adavu/s (basic steps) of the dance form. One of the highlighting part of this app is the fact that with each video there is a description about that particular adavu (step). The other thing that caught my attention was that they had pictorial representation for each adavu (step).

The app provides two types of session- Free trial and a Premium session. In the free trial, one can learn three chapters of adavus (basic steps), three Natyarambha practice routines and one personalised practice routine.

On the other hand, the Premium session is on yearly subscription basis: which offers all adavus (basic steps) and all Natyarambha practice routines and unlimited personalised practice routine.

With no doubt, this app provides one of the finest practice session that one can utilise back home daily. The dancers are well trained and each adavu (step) is performed at various speed for us to practice.

This app is more useful for the beginners as it focuses on the adavus (steps). My Guru, has always told me, “practice makes a man perfect” and this phrase holds good for dancers. Without practice, a dancer cannot achieve the perfection that is expected of them. And, this app functions exclusively on the lines of practice.

Being a teacher myself, I always tell my trained students to keep revising their basics. And, my students on the other hand, have always had an immediate response saying, “Teacher, we don’t remember all the steps.” And, now I feel that an app like this will not only help the beginners but also those trained dancers to go back and hone their basics.

Though I have visited various websites which provide dance videos of teachers and students performing on a jathi/varnam/song. And, many Facebook pages of various dance schools which provides us with various videos of their performance. This app is going to be a valuable resource for beginners and other dancers to sharpen our basics.

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(Pournaa Sridhar is a trained Bharatnatyam dancer based in Chennai)