Arangetram is the occasion when the student is presented in a full-length solo performance after having undergone many years of intense training. It marks the completion of the first phase of learning and the beginning of a new phase in a dancer’s unending quest for excellence. Arangetram is a ceremonial occasion with its roots going back to the devadasi tradition, marking the transition of the devadasi from a student to a fledgling performer, competent to undertake the responsibility of upholding the dance tradition.

While the devadasi tradition itself has disappeared, the Arangetram tradition has come to be absorbed into the modern practice of Bharata Natyam. Today, Bharata Natyam has come to represent all that is refined in Indian culture. Arangetram then becomes a supreme symbol of that refinement.

With a teaching career spanning over forty years, Asha Bala, Founder and Director of the Leela School of Dance, has guided countless students through their Arangetram journeys and beyond.