Reflecting on the past 1.5 years of dance

One and a half years ago, I decided to take dance more seriously. Although I had been going to a few beginners’ classes (never Bharathnatyam classes, though) and was performing as part of extracurricular activities in my university, I did not attempt to cultivate dance as an art form. Then, during one of the hardest years of my life, I dove right into it. Since then, dance has been a constant part of my life and I have no plans of giving it up anytime soon.

Around the same time I started my Bharathnatyam classes, I launched this blog. At the time, I aimed to write here regularly, as a way to document my progress. Unfortunately, although I stayed true to dance, I cannot say the same for Miss Tenderfeet. I quickly fell out of routine. This is because, for the first few months, I was not progressing fast enough for it to be something to write about.

Learning to dance is a tedious process, especially when you

1. Are starting from scratch
2. Only have three hours of classes a week
3. Are working full time

The first six months were the hardest. I was learning a new style of Bharathnatyam, the Kalakshetra style, which is quite different from what I used to learn as a child. Combined with the fact that it was my first attempt at Bharathnatyam in four years and that I rarely got to practice due to my work schedule, I was barely progressing during the first few classes. At a point, I felt as if I would be stuck at the tatta adavus forever.

For those of unfamiliar with Bharathnatyam classes, you start learning Bharathnatyam with mini lessons or chapters called adavus. Each adavu consists of a set of five to eight steps. Although these are basic steps, they are form the vocabulary to more advanced dance items. Think of them as the plies and pirouettes of Bharathantyam.

The first adavu you learn is always the tatta adavu. It is the most basic adavu. There are no mudras, or hand gestures. You simply rest your hands on your hips, arms akimbo, and you stamp your feet to the beat. The first step is simply that, stamping each foot one at a time, over and over again, at three different speeds. Then you move on to two stamps per foot, then three, then four, then five. From steps six to eight, there is a bit more choreography than simply stamping your feet one at a time but it is still very much a feet-based adavu. Anyway, I am not here to give you a lesson in adavus. My point is I was stuck at tatta for the longest time and it was not very encouraging, to say the least.

Then, slowly, before I even realised it was happening, I started progressing to more difficult steps. Today I am learning advanced adavus and am about to start learning my first item, the alarippu.

Looking back, I am glad for the gruelling first year of classes. It really strengthened my base and helped iron out the wrinkles in my posture, stamina and rhythm. Of course, I have many more things to work on now and I am a whole era away from an arangetram, let alone a stage performance. But I letting myself be proud that I stuck through despite the time and space constraints that amateur dancers like me face regularly. As I reflect back on the year, I can also see my potential in the coming year and that makes me happy. Now, I can start writing kick-ass dance resolutions for the new year!