Chhandam Nritya Bharati

Chhandam Nritya Bharati is located up on the 13th floor of Tani Hights, specifically in the S M Jain Boarding at Malabar Hill. It’s quite a way up, but the view is something else when we are practicing. We focus on dance here, mostly teaching the younger ones and some adults who want to keep the tradition going. It’s not a big corporate studio with mirrors on every wall; it’s a space where we focus on the movement and the rhythm. The building is 134/3 and sometimes the elevator takes a bit of time, so everyone learns to come a few minutes early. We spend a lot of time on the floor, working on footwork and hand gestures. It can get quite loud with the ghungroos, but the neighbors at the boarding house are used to us by now. We don't really do much in the way of big advertisements. Most people find out about us through friends or by seeing a performance somewhere. It’s a lot of hard work, and sometimes the students get tired, but we just keep practicing. There’s a lot of history in the dances we teach, and we try to pass that on as best we can. It’s just a dedicated group of us meeting up at Malabar Hill to dance and learn together. The space is simple, but it’s enough for what we do every day. We usually have classes in the evenings after schools let out.