Health and Mental Wellbeing Through Dance

Presentation at Wonderful India festival around mental health benefits of Bharatanatyam

1. Health & mental WELLBEING THROUGH Dance Tara Srinivasan 04/26/2024 Wonderful India

2. ABOUT ME Freshman at Westlake HS 10 years of Bharatanatyam training at Nrithya Vidhya Niketan Arangetram (2.5 hr solo dance debut) in 2023 10 years of jazz, ballet, contemporary, HipHop Member of Hyline and Austin Dance Elite

3. ABOUT BHAratnatyam History Technique – Hastas , Adavus , Abhinaya Costume Music, instruments & Orchestra

4. ABOUT BHAratnatyam – cont. Themes (e.g. dods , sentiments) Guru Relevance to Bollywood dance Relevance to western dance

5. Key elements of a Bharatanatyam dance Hand gestures (aka Mudras): Suchi, Mushti , Deer, Bird, Anjali, Turtle Footwork (or adavus ): Periya adavu , Kudipta metti Adavu Facial expression (or abhinaya): Surprise, shock, a nger, laughter Music and rhythm (using Jathis )

6. Beginning – Pushpanjali or Gratitude What: To say t hanks Who: To teacher, musicians, audience, and God Why: Show gratitude to the world for supporting your dance journey and respect to the people around you.

7. Middle – Story telling THROUGH DANCE What: Tell stories of gods, religion, morals Who: To the common person Why: Limited written books, reading ability or Netflix to tell these stories

8. The End – Mangalam or SHOWING KINDNESS What: Last part of a dance. The dancer wishes everyone well – peace, good health, wealth, and great happiness in their life Who: They could be family, friends, or even enemies that are mean to you Why: Show kindness

9. BENEFITS OF Dance Physical exercise Movement brings happiness Remembering sequences good for memory Yoga like spirituality Connectivity to culture As you grow older, body and mind adapts to