Bharatanatyam Classical Dance Experience

Bharatanatyam is one of India's oldest classical dance forms and has its modern home in Chennai. Rooted in the temple traditions of Tamil Nadu, it combines rhythmic footwork, graceful poses and expressive gestures of the hands, eyes and face to tell stories from Hindu mythology and poetry. The dance was revived and reshaped in the twentieth century by artists and reformers, and today Chennai is the centre of its teaching and performance, with dozens of schools, a long-running music and dance season and an audience that follows it closely. A dance experience for visitors is designed to open the door to this world. Typically you meet a trained dancer or teacher, watch a short performance that shows the basic elements of the form, learn about the mudras, or hand gestures, and the facial expressions that convey emotion, and try a few steps yourself. Some experiences include a lunch, a visit to a dance school or a conversation about how a young dancer trains over many years, from the first adavus, or basic steps, to the full recital known as a margam.

Visitors often come away with a new way of watching dance. The form has a precise vocabulary, with hand gestures that can stand for objects, animals, gods and ideas, and with footwork patterns that match complex rhythmic cycles spoken aloud by the teacher. Learning even a few of these elements makes you appreciate how much control and memory a performer needs. Expect a lesson that is playful rather than strict, though your thighs may feel the half-sitting stance known as araimandi for a day afterwards.

Chennai's dance and music season, known as the Margazhi season, runs roughly from mid-December to mid-January and fills the city with concerts, lectures and dance recitals at sabhas, or cultural halls, across the city. If you travel in that period, you can combine a private experience with a public performance, and many travellers find the pairing unforgettable. Outside the season, regular programmes continue at cultural venues, and a guide or your hotel can help find them. Tickets for popular concerts can be limited, so ask early.

Practical details are simple. Wear comfortable clothes that allow you to move your legs and arms freely, and expect to dance barefoot in a studio. Experiences are usually private or semi-private and last about two to three hours, sometimes longer when a meal is included. Operators can arrange pick-up from central hotels, and some can tailor the content for children or for experienced dancers. Prices for private cultural experiences tend to be higher than for group tours, because you are paying for a trained artist's time, so check what is included before you book.

Combine the experience with a visit to Kalakshetra, the celebrated arts institution in Thiruvanmiyur that has trained generations of dancers, or with a temple visit in Mylapore to see how the art form grew from sacred settings. After the class, many visitors look for a pair of ankle bells, a small Nataraja statue or a book on Indian classical dance in the shops of Mylapore and T.

Nagar. Bharatanatyam is a quiet, moving doorway into Tamil culture, and a few hours spent on it can change the way you see temple sculpture and festival processions for the rest of your trip.