My Bharathanatyam Arangetram

On June 30th, 2012, I performed my bharathanatyam Arangetram. An Arangetram is the first full- length stage performance by a bharathanatyam dancer. By doing her Arangetram, a dancer proves that she has mastered the basics of bharathanatyam and is ready to climb the stage and show her talent to the world. The Arangetram is a very big event in a dancer’s life, and so you can understand that I was very, very excited to be performing mine.


It was sometime in July, 2011, that our parents and my teacher, Smt. Rohini Ramesh (or Rohini aunty, as I call her) decided that me and two of my friends, Tanya and Priyanka, would be doing our BharathanatyamArangetram together. It would take a full year to prepare, so we got started right away. In addition to our normal classes Rohini aunty started giving us special classes, with just the three of us.

We picked up pace, and started learning at twice the speed we had before. Now that I had a great goal to work towards, I worked a lot harder and put in more effort. By March, we had perfected all the dances. Now, all that remained was the “icing on the cake”, as my teacher calls it. Though our steps were correct, we needed to learn how to beautify our dance with expressions and eye movements.

Throughout April and May, we threw our full force into the dance. We practised all day and attended class in the evening. Slowly, the practice worked its magic on us. Our stamina increased and we had finally reached the level of perfection required for an Arangetram.

While I was busy learning dance, my parents were even busier still. They had millions of things to do: hiring the hall and orchestra, printing cards and banners, setting costumes and makeup, finding places for guests to stay… I could go on and on!

So, the days passed, and finally the final day arrived! I had butterflies in my stomach the whole day. In the afternoon my mother and I drove to the hall. There I met Tanya and Priyanka, and we all started getting our makeup done. Unable to sit still, we discussed steps, formations, and movements. Rohini Aunty had to keep telling us to ‘relax, everything will be fine!’

Soon we were ready, wearing our costumes. We sat in the green room, shaking with nervousness. Already I could hear the noise from the crowd downstairs. Finally, our programme director came up and told us it was time to go backstage. In the wings were plates of white chocolate and bottles of Gatorade, for us to eat and drink between dances.

I took a deep breath as the first song started, and then walked onstage. I looked out into the audience. Though I couldn’t see their faces, I could tell that there were around 400 people out there. But, I felt confident. The dance was so much fun, I couldn’t help but smile. We completed the entire dance without a single mistake! By the time we walked offstage, we were brimming of energy and confidence.

We danced through the entire first half, which ended with the 30- minute long Varnam. Relieved after the tiring dance, we went backstage. Immediately we were swept into the green room, where we changed costumes. It was a real challenge to get ready within 10 minutes!

The second half began with Tanya’s solo, followed by mine, and then Priyanka’s. My solo was one of the dances that I was most nervous about, but it went very well and everyone loved it. After the solos, it was time for each of us to give our vote of thanks. Then, finally, we came to the last dance of the day, called the Thillana. After that was over, we walked backstage.

Waiting there were many of my friends and relatives. Everyone told me that I had danced very well, and that my vote of thanks had been especially nice! People piled gifts and bouquets into my arms. We had danced for over 2 hours, with hardly any break! But, to me it seemed like it was over even before it had all begun. After dinner, people left one by one, and finally I drove home as well.

I simply couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t believe that we had actually done it! I was really, really happy.

Preparing and performing my Bharathanatyam Arangetram was one of my most fantastic experiences. It took a lot of work, time and practice, but in the end it was completely worth all the effort I put in. My Arangetram was a huge milestone in my life and I will never forget it!