Traditional Bharata Natyam

Austin Dance India

Austin Dance India

an introduction

Austin Dance India is one of  the City’s premiere organizations and resources for Indian classical Bharata Natyam dance. Under the Artistic Direction of independent dancer/choreographer, Anuradha Naimpally, ADI offers classes in traditional technique, arts in education, public performances, advocacy, and more. Mayor Steve Adler declared October 22nd as Austin Dance India in honor of the service that ADI has provided to Central Texas for over two decades.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary year in 2016, ADI has engaged the community to participate in several first time endeavors. ADI produced its first ever Dance-A-Thon and Community Fair in April. ADI also co-produced, for the first time a multi-art form play entitled Living on the Hyphen at The Long Center. This is a project about the universal humor and challenges of straddling various worlds and identities, a theme that Naimpally has been passionately interested in.

The entire ADI student ensemble, including alumni performed at the same venue with an original work entitled, Girl Power!, a multi-art presentation featuring spoken word, dance, music, and video. Highlighting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set forth by the United Nations, Girl Power! brought Gender Equality and Quality Education to the forefront.

Austin Dance India conducts ongoing classes in Bharata Natyam technique and trains students from beginner to professional level. ADI’s mission is to empower through dance. Austin Dance India is currently closed for enrollment.

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I have been a student of Anu Naimpally for about a decade now and have benefited immensely from her presence in my life - as a teacher and mentor for dance as well as personal growth.

/  Soumya Ashok, Austin, TX  /

History

the journey

After her marriage, Anuradha began teaching two students in her garage in north Austin. By word of mouth, the number grew to about twenty-five and she began to rent a dance studio close to her house on Sunday afternoons for a couple of hours. Over the next few years, she moved more central and created a dedicated studio work space within her new home for her small classes on Sundays.

Fast forward twenty-six years later, ADI has close to 60 students and hundreds of youth have gone through dance training with Anuradha.  She maintains a one-to-one relationship by teaching all her classes and keeping them small, as is the traditional Indian guru-sishya, or teacher-disciple method of learning the arts.

Over the past 26 years, she has trained and mentored 19 students from beginner level for up to 10+ years. Each of them performed their arangetram, a solo debut concert of traditional repertoire presented with live music. During the year prior to the arangetram, each student undergoes intensive one-on-one training to delve deeply into the nuances of expressions and technique. This process has been transformative for many of these young dancers who discover their passion and strengths.

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...She works tirelessly to not only increase awareness in the community, but also to further educate students to reach their own professional goals in the art form. She is an invaluable member of the community and supporting her and funding her efforts only benefits our community further. We are so fortunate to have her in our community!

/ Ashwini Hoskote, Parent of two Austin Dance India students /