The Pedagogy of Precision: Training, Transmission, and Transformation in Bharatanatyam Practice

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Title

Creator

Publisher

The Department of Indian Music
School of Fine & Performing Arts
University of Madras, Chepauk
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India - 600 005

Date

June 2025

Format

Portable Document Format

Language

English

Abstract

This paper critically examines the pedagogical structures embedded in the training and transmission of Bharatanatyam, focusing on the nuanced interplay between precision, embodiment, and evolving practice. Drawing on ethnographic observations, interviews with gurus and practitioners, and archival research, the study traces the shifting dynamics of Bharatanatyam pedagogy from traditional gurukula systems to institutional and globalized contexts. The research interrogates how ideas of nritta, nritya, and natya are taught and internalized and how precision in technique serves as both a disciplinary tool and a site for creative transformation. It explores the tensions between codified training methods and individual artistic agency, especially in contemporary spaces where Bharatanatyam is recontextualized for diverse audiences. Through this lens, the paper foregrounds the embodied labor of the dancer as a critical site of knowledge production and reconsiders pedagogy not as static transmission but as a dynamic process of negotiation and reinvention.

Bibliographic Citation

Urvashi Mohinani. (2025). The Pedagogy of Precision: Training, Transmission, and Transformation in Bharatanatyam Practice. Smṛti - A Bi-annual Peer Reviewed Journal on Fine & Performing Arts, 5(1), 37–53.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16812057

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Volume V | Issue 1 | June 2025

Citation

Urvashi Mohinani, “The Pedagogy of Precision: Training, Transmission, and Transformation in Bharatanatyam Practice,” Smṛti - A Bi-Annual Peer Reviewed Journal on Fine & Performing Arts , accessed March 12, 2026, https://smrti.omeka.net/items/show/87.

The Pedagogy of Precision: Training, Transmission, and Transformation in Bharatanatyam Practice

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