This basic beginner course of Bharatanatyam by Dr. Rekha Raju, which will span over a period of eight weeks, will train the enrolling students on the nuances, the essential postures, foot movements, hand gestures, and facial expressions that form the core of Bharatanatyam as a dance form. In this course, students will get introduced to the origin and development of Bharatanatyam. Dr. Rekha Raju will teach the students the core concepts of adavus, training them on 10 fundamental foot movements of Bharatanatyam, including the 3 basic postures using the lower half of the body, i.e posture with the legs together, the half seated posture, and the fully seated posture. Moving on further into the course, she will also teach students 10 fundamental hand gestures or mudras pertaining to the Asamyukta hasta meaning that which is done using single hand or one hand gestures, of the 28 in total. The next module will teach students 10 hand gestures or mudras pertaining to Samyukta hastas which means two hand or double hand gestures, of the 23 in practice. Further on, in the course the students will be trained on getting the different aspects of adavus, i.e foot movements and hand gestures, all in sync, to perform to a shloka.

After successful completion of this course, students can gear themselves for the next course by Dr. Rekha Raju: Basics of Bharatanatyam | Level I and The Art of Bharatanatyam | Level II

About the Instructor: Identified as a child prodigy after entering dance school at the tender age of 3 and a half years, Rekha Raju has come a long way. After refining her skills as a Bharatanatyam dancer Dr. Rekha Raju has devoted most of her time to Mohiniyattam, a dance form popular in Kerala. Perhaps her birth in Palakkad, Kerala could be the possible reason for her interest in Mohiniyattam. Raised in Bangalore, the gifted artist now runs a dance school in Bangalore. Amidst this hustle and bustle, Dr.Rekha Raju successfully completed her Ph.D. in dance from Mysore University studying Margi and desi techniques of Bharatanatyam and Mohiniyattam. 

Her apprentice and assistant faculty trainer, Keerthi Uday is currently pursuing her higher studies at Mount Carmel College (Bangalore, India). She has been learning Bharatanatyam, since she was six, under the guidance of Dr. Rekha Raju. She has also completed her Prarambhik, Praveshik Purna exams in Bharatanatyam from Bhartiya Sangeeth Prasarak Mandal (Pune), with flying colors. Keerthi is also learning the dance forms Mohiniyatam under Dr. Rekha Raju, Thalam, and Nattuvangam under Sri. Jagdeesh Janardhanan. She is one of the faculty members of Dr. Rekha Raju’s troupe and has assisted her in several workshops and major dance festivals.