The young dancer chose to highlight episodes that led to the major battles in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
Kavita Ramu chose Arunagirinathar’s popular Tamil verse to begin her dance performance
Guru K.J. Sarasa’s disciple Kavita Ramu drew from traditional repertoire to present a recital with a fine sense of rhythm and flourish
How Indian classical dance celebrates love
On Valentine’s Day, four classical dancers — Navia Natarajan, N. Srikanth, Divya Devaguptapu and Amrita Lahiri write about how they have explored and interpreted Sringara Rasa, the expression of love
‘Mughal-e-Azam’s genesis is in theatre’: Feroz Abbas Khan on the grand spectacle’s return to Delhi
As Mughal-e-Azam returns to charm the Capital for one last time, director Feroz Abbas Khan lays bare the emotional and aesthetic nuts and bolts of the grand spectacle
Sometimes the Best Way to Move Forward Is to Stop Dancing
I’ve been an anxious person and a perfectionist for as long as I can remember. I was devastated over an A-minus on a test, I would stretch until I cried, I would go over a dance I knew well a million times consecutively before going onstage, and my brain concocted endless worst-case scenarios. As a child, I didn’t understand what anxiety was; I also didn’t understand that it can reach a level that exceeds a body’s capacity to manage it. I began dancing at the age of 3 and continued through my high school graduation. In 2014, I moved to […]
EF_FEMININITY – Trio Version: An artistic journey delves into the inner feminine
The piece delves into the concepts of femininity, hyper-femininity and effeminacy through their documentary dance performance
Meet Yamilée Toussaint, the MIT Grad Introducing Young Girls to STEM Through Dance
As an engineering student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yamilée Toussaint was sometimes the only Black woman in her class. After she graduated, she decided to change that, and, in 2012, combined her dual passions for science and dancing to create STEM From Dance—an institution based in Brooklyn, New York, with programs across the country. Toussaint was named a Top 5 CNN Hero in 2024. Dance Teacher spoke with her to learn about her journey of empowering girls in STEM through the power of dance. Congratulations on your CNN Hero award. How did it feel getting recognized for your hard […]
Bharatanatyam dancer Divya Hoskere showcases a rare sensitivity to emotions in the songs
The young Bharatanatyam dancer and academician was in control always and confident and energetic.
How We Move Offers a New Kind of Intensive Designed for Disabled and Multiply Marginalized Artists
In recent years, the dance world has grown and changed “in really cool ways,” says India Harville, the founder and executive director of disability justice performing arts organization Embraced Body. “We’re seeing more BIPOC dancers, and fat dancers, and queer dancers, and Disabled dancers.” What’s still missing, according to Harville, is the acknowledgment that many artists, like herself, exist across several of these identities at once. “A lot of times, you’ll be in one space designed for disabled bodies that won’t have awareness around race,” she says. “Or you’ll be in a space that’s queer-friendly but doesn’t have a politic […]