Phase 1 of the Arangetram consisted of choosing the pieces I would be performing, as well as the venue and the date – none of which were an easy task.

My parents and I met with my guru at a potential venue with a potential date in mind (both of which we ended up confirming) and sat to discuss the pieces. Arangetrams usually consist of 7-8 pieces, with a tribute to Lord Ganesha – the god of beginnings – to start off.

The initial list consisted of: The Ganesha Charanam, a Swarajati, my Varnam (Bhavyami), followed by a short break and then Sri Jalandharam, Panchashakti, Jaya Jaya Padmanabha, and the Rati Pati Tillana. This list accounted for a variety of different gods and seemed to have no particular theme, so we decided to brainstorm and fix a theme later. Thus, I began learning the two pieces of these 7 that I did not know.

I quickly understood the true toll of the Arangetram. Not only did I need to learn the dances, I also had to have a lot of stamina – enough to last me over 2 hours! Along the way, we also decided on a theme – that of Shiva and Parvati, two gods in Hindu culture. Because of this decision, we had to switch a few of the pieces around, and ended up with an alternating 6 pieces of Shiva and Amma (Parvati), keeping the Ganesha Charanam as the constant.

This process has been quite stressful and has taken a toll on me physically as I have had to increase dance practices from once a week to sometimes 3 or 4 times, each being 1-2 hours. However, I know that the end product – the Arangetram – will be phenomenal if I put in a lot of effort now, which is why I am willing to work additionally to ensure a beautiful performance.

LO2 – Demonstrate that you have undertaken, developing new skills in the process

LO4 – Show commitment to and perseverance in you CAS experiences