As the name suggests, this book focuses on the therapeutic advantages of the oldest classical dance form of India- Bharatanatyam. How can Bharatanatyam help to keep physical and mental health stable? This question is addressed in this book in detail. This research book talks about how Bharatanatyam affects the overall health of the human body, taking from vital organs such as the heart, lungs, Liver to how it helps in brain development and nerve growth. How can Bharatanatyam affect students' academic performance to how it can increase stamina, concentration, and focus. This research book is the key to the treasure of good health.

When I look back, my life has been devoted to performing, choreography and above all, to the noble profession of teaching Bharatanatyam, sharing whatever knowledge I possess with my students.A child has to have an open mind when he/she goes to the Guru. To make the learning more fruitful and meaningful, the student embarks on a long and arduous journey from the exploration of self to the achievement of the pinnacle of glory.Achieving the goal is not as easy as it may seem. It requires immense dedication and hard work and no doubt, an inborn talent or aptitude for fine arts.Whenever a student joins the Dance Class, he or she wishes to have a book to fall back upon. It is always been a great task for me as a teacher to dictate or to write notes for each and every student so that he or she understands the theory of dance and also its practice. At that stage, even a simple movement appears complicated. Also, one question that is always asked of me is whether I could suggest a book, that would help the student in understanding the basics of dance. Also a guide book which would assist the senior students when they take up to teaching carrier.The basic purpose of this book is to present all the principles, methods and techniques of Bharatanatyam in a simple, systematic and comprehensive manner.It leads the student from the simple to the complex: introduction to the dance form, tala (time measure), gestures, feet positions, the dancer's workout orchestra and the main topics of the dance units, Adavus. The Advus have been explained in detail with complete illustrations.The pre-recorded audio and the video-cassette to assist in the practice is also available.Some speci

This book, elucidates the basic steps called Adavus of Bharata Natyam in the traditional Pandanallur style, as taught by the revered Gurus Sri Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai and Sri Muthukumara Pillai, to Sri T.K Narayan and Smt. Jayalakshmi Narayan, parents of the author. It is an honest attempt to explain the various steps with unerring and accurate execution technique. The book offers a visual representation of the Adavus with the help of stick diagrams in a sequential manner so that the beginners and practitioners can understand the finer points of each movement. The author has developed simple schematics to show the various moves, such as jump, stretch, turn, hit etc. The author endeavours to illustrate Adavus in a precise manner in this book. Classification and categorization of each step is the salient feature of this work. Gayathri Keshavan makes a humble effort to pass on the knowledge of this ancient and sacred art to the present and future generations of Bharata Natyam dancers.

The academic activity in relation to the performing arts is exploding at quite a fast rate. There are a number of old and new Universities and research centers offering a wide range of academic courses in the performing arts. However, traditionally the teaching-learning process in the performing arts field has been outside the ambit of the academic structure. The move of a traditional process to the academic circle has brought to the forefront some of the challenges of the move. These include both the teaching-learning process and the examination method.