Since 1980, Abhinaya Dance Company has conducted one of San José’s oldest community-based arts education programs that has served over 1500+ dance students ages six to adult. Our four-tiered dance training program has transmitted the performance of Bharatanatyam (Classical dance from South India) across the generations, enabling our students to maintain a personal connection to India’s cultural heritage.
Abhinaya conducts weekly classes in San José, Monte Sereno, and Fremont.
Our philosophy in the training process:
Abhinaya’s instructional program welcomes all students interested in learning dance. Training in Bharatanatyam is offered to all students, irrespective of talent, for the first few years. The objectives of this training are to inculcate in the student the physical discipline that this art requires: to teach varied body movements that develop muscle flexibility at the crucial growing age; to imbibe the fundamentals of Indian rhythm that is common to all Indian music and dance; to gain familiarity with a unique language of gestures and interpretative vocabulary; and to absorb the stories of Hindu and Indian mythology through the themes of the basic repertoire as well as by attending as many recitals as possible.
Proficiency in Indian Classical dance is attained only after several years of intensive training, at which point a student is ready to ‘ascend the stage’ (Arangetram) and present a concert-length solo recital to the public.
Whither the hand goes there the glances follows,
Whither the glances lead there the mind folllows,
Whither the mind goes there the mood follows,
Whither the mood goes, there is rasa* born.
*Aesthetic experience or essence
Photo by Swagato Basumallick