Glimpses

On a cloudy day in #Dhasa on this Rural Outreach, with raindrops falling lightly over us, we explored Classical Ballet movement out in the open fields.
"The Farm Swans" caught a melody in the air and swayed and flapped and moved as elegantly as the birds they were meant to emulate.
Out there, in the middle of a farm, they found their stage, their spot and presented to nature the Art that is inspired by Nature itself.
You made for a glorious bevy of Swans, Girls! Love, Grace and the joy of movement to you always!
This is Junoon. Soft and Strong.

On a cloudy day in #Dhasa on this Rural Outreach, with raindrops falling lightly over us, we explored Classical Ballet movement out in the open fields.
"The Farm Swans" caught a melody in the air and swayed and flapped and moved as elegantly as the birds they were meant to emulate.
Out there, in the middle of a farm, they found their stage, their spot and presented to nature the Art that is inspired by Nature itself.
You made for a glorious bevy of Swans, Girls! Love, Grace and the joy of movement to you always!
This is Junoon. Soft and Strong.

On a cloudy day in #Dhasa on this Rural Outreach, with raindrops falling lightly over us, we explored Classical Ballet movement out in the open fields.
"The Farm Swans" caught a melody in the air and swayed and flapped and moved as elegantly as the birds they were meant to emulate.
Out there, in the middle of a farm, they found their stage, their spot and presented to nature the Art that is inspired by Nature itself.
You made for a glorious bevy of Swans, Girls! Love, Grace and the joy of movement to you always!
This is Junoon. Soft and Strong.

On a cloudy day in #Dhasa on this Rural Outreach, with raindrops falling lightly over us, we explored Classical Ballet movement out in the open fields.
"The Farm Swans" caught a melody in the air and swayed and flapped and moved as elegantly as the birds they were meant to emulate.
Out there, in the middle of a farm, they found their stage, their spot and presented to nature the Art that is inspired by Nature itself.
You made for a glorious bevy of Swans, Girls! Love, Grace and the joy of movement to you always!
This is Junoon. Soft and Strong.

On a cloudy day in #Dhasa on this Rural Outreach, with raindrops falling lightly over us, we explored Classical Ballet movement out in the open fields.
"The Farm Swans" caught a melody in the air and swayed and flapped and moved as elegantly as the birds they were meant to emulate.
Out there, in the middle of a farm, they found their stage, their spot and presented to nature the Art that is inspired by Nature itself.
You made for a glorious bevy of Swans, Girls! Love, Grace and the joy of movement to you always!
This is Junoon. Soft and Strong.

Preparing for the performance of a lifetime that actually marks the beginning of a lifetime of performances - professionally and otherwise - is a painstaking, transformational, painful and wonderful process.

As Aarya prepares for her Arangetram in the gorgeous, glorious and grand ancient Indian Classical Dance form of Bharata Natyam, we are so fortunate and excited to smoothen out her rough edges because she is already such a gem of a dancer and human being.

Aarya enters her most crucial phase in practice, in the lead up to her showcase that is symbolic of a dancer coming into her own, ready to ascend the stage and command her audience to receive all she has to humbly offer.

There couldn't have been a more conscientious, committed and honest dancer for us to be able to mentor. And we hope to do all we can to meet her own expectations of herself and the immeasurable potential we see inside of her.

Classical Dance is the privilege of a few "Chosen Ones". A fire in the belly comes to still fewer among those. Aarya belongs to that tiny circle within the circle and all Junoon can do is work with Junoon to make her circle as complete as can be, to refine and define her craft.

We cannot be more hopeful of her and ourselves as we constantly pay tribute to our Art by working with, within and for it.

A Threshold - an interesting place to be - a place we seem to perpetually be at but cognizant of to different extents.
In the pursuit and service of the Arts though, my threshold has begun to tell me that every decision, every action, every move and none have a significance and a consequence.
Not everything has to feel right and good. It simply has to be done.
The Arts are all heart, yes.
Passion is a strong determinant.
But it is not enough to be passionate.
It is not enough to love what you do.
It is only important to constantly recognize and respond to the thresholds you find yourself crossing.
(From the final sessions of the year in TJG, in rehearsal before their year-ending performance titled, "LOVE LETTER TO NATURE".)

What does this threshold need? What will that one demand? Will you have built up enough to deliver?
Passion is a natural inclination.
Excellence is a choice.
One that we make every day, every waking and fitfully sleeping moment of our lives.
Are you striving? Do you want to be better?
Do you want to be so good that being anything other than who you are would be unimaginable?
(From the final sessions of the year in TJG, in rehearsal before their year-ending performance titled, "LOVE LETTER TO NATURE".)

When you bring reason, structure, tireless striving and possibility to passion,
you might be getting nearer to Excellence. And it is the toughest, least passionate,
most brutal choice in the world. But it makes sense of all that Passion.
So, look into that fire and smile.
That look, that choice, that decision is Junoon. And that is when you've crossed over yet another Threshold.
(From the final sessions of the year in TJG, in rehearsal before their year-ending performance titled, "LOVE LETTER TO NATURE".)

Our girls prepare to perform.
It's not an easy preparation to make.
Neither in mind nor in body.
But once the former is on board, the latter takes care of itself.

Why, after all this time in training,
Being performance ready is the logical, plausible,
inevitable next step.
With unflinching Junoon

Here, on our Rural Outreach.

Our girls prepare to perform.
It's not an easy preparation to make.
Neither in mind nor in body.
But once the former is on board, the latter takes care of itself.

Why, after all this time in training,
Being performance ready is the logical, plausible,
inevitable next step.
With unflinching Junoon

Here, on our Rural Outreach.

Our girls prepare to perform.
It's not an easy preparation to make.
Neither in mind nor in body.
But once the former is on board, the latter takes care of itself.

Why, after all this time in training,
Being performance ready is the logical, plausible,
inevitable next step.
With unflinching Junoon

Here, on our Rural Outreach.

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

The spotlight awaits,
We're ready to take the stage.
For all that we've put in at the end of school days and weekends.
This ancient Art from an ancient system of learning, Has pushed us forward into potentials we have only just begun discovering.
We're the Girls in Grey,
And we're ready to blaze,
Into the spotlight that awaits,
Because Classical Dance only ever amazed.

(From the final sessions of the Pilot of TJG, right before our girls showcased their work in a finale performance.)

Looking out where we must be headed,
To those mountains and beyond…

Here on
THE JUNOON GURUKUL
At Avasara.

From a square pocket,
Where the girls begin to dream…

Here on
THE JUNOON GURUKUL
At Avasara.

This is how far we’ve come.
This is how far we’d like to go…

Here on
THE JUNOON GURUKUL
At Avasara.

Meet our girls who begin their day on our Rural Outreach in Dhasa, ready at the start line, raring to go, running into fitter, leaner, stronger bodies.

Athletics is a massive part of our training program. Our girls run like the wind and run long and hard to dance like a dream.

Mornings like these make the dance happen!

Meet our girls who begin their day on our Rural Outreach in Dhasa, ready at the start line, raring to go, running into fitter, leaner, stronger bodies.

Athletics is a massive part of our training program. Our girls run like the wind and run long and hard to dance like a dream.

Mornings like these make the dance happen!

Meet our girls who begin their day on our Rural Outreach in Dhasa, ready at the start line, raring to go, running into fitter, leaner, stronger bodies.

Athletics is a massive part of our training program. Our girls run like the wind and run long and hard to dance like a dream.

Mornings like these make the dance happen!

A love of Classical Art brings alive a love of nature and an appreciation of it.

Our girls, on our Rural Outreach, practice their basics and stances out in the open, paying reverence to their natural surroundings on a mildly cloudy day, here in Dhasa.

Bharata Natyam and Ballet seem even more beautiful when performed outdoors, under blue skies and tall trees, upon lush green grass!

To doing our best, inside and outside!

A love of Classical Art brings alive a love of nature and an appreciation of it.

Our girls, on our Rural Outreach, practice their basics and stances out in the open, paying reverence to their natural surroundings on a mildly cloudy day, here in Dhasa.

Bharata Natyam and Ballet seem even more beautiful when performed outdoors, under blue skies and tall trees, upon lush green grass!

To doing our best, inside and outside!

A love of Classical Art brings alive a love of nature and an appreciation of it.

Our girls, on our Rural Outreach, practice their basics and stances out in the open, paying reverence to their natural surroundings on a mildly cloudy day, here in Dhasa.

Bharata Natyam and Ballet seem even more beautiful when performed outdoors, under blue skies and tall trees, upon lush green grass!

To doing our best, inside and outside!

The Sun follows our little stars no matter where they go, where they look and what they do on this Rural Outreach, here in Dhasa.

They reach their limbs out and form those lines and shapes that are so hard to come by in the practice and performance of Classical Dance.

We have witnessed their pain and joy in expanding the reach of their arms, the strength in their legs and the glow in their eyes as well as the soul they bring to every movement and stance.

Finding line and length begins as a very painful practice that gradually makes one's dance look massive, elegant and ever expansive.

May the light carry them to lengthier movements, cleaner lines and the unparalleled depths of dance.

Dance long and strong and reach further forever!

The Sun follows our little stars no matter where they go, where they look and what they do on this Rural Outreach, here in Dhasa.

They reach their limbs out and form those lines and shapes that are so hard to come by in the practice and performance of Classical Dance.

We have witnessed their pain and joy in expanding the reach of their arms, the strength in their legs and the glow in their eyes as well as the soul they bring to every movement and stance.

Finding line and length begins as a very painful practice that gradually makes one's dance look massive, elegant and ever expansive.

May the light carry them to lengthier movements, cleaner lines and the unparalleled depths of dance.

Dance long and strong and reach further forever!

The Sun follows our little stars no matter where they go, where they look and what they do on this Rural Outreach, here in Dhasa.

They reach their limbs out and form those lines and shapes that are so hard to come by in the practice and performance of Classical Dance.

We have witnessed their pain and joy in expanding the reach of their arms, the strength in their legs and the glow in their eyes as well as the soul they bring to every movement and stance.

Finding line and length begins as a very painful practice that gradually makes one's dance look massive, elegant and ever expansive.

May the light carry them to lengthier movements, cleaner lines and the unparalleled depths of dance.

Dance long and strong and reach further forever!

THE JUNOON GIRL SQUAD
Here, in Dhasa.
On our Rural Outreach.

In fiery Reds and cool Blues and intense Blacks.
After their final classes this time round.

Athletes. Artistes. Dancers.

We are, because of you.
Thank you for being so good, so consistent and growing so so fast.
Classical Dance needs you.
Bharata Natyam and Classical Ballet and everything athletic and artistic done for it and around it need you.

Your little bodies with loads of Junoon packed into them - strength, stamina, speed, agility, flexibility, length, expansion, passion and devotion - are the beginning and breeding ground of a lot of dreams.

Grow. Smile. Smile as you grow.
And never ever forget to see how far you've come, in such a short while...

THE JUNOON GIRL SQUAD
Here, in Dhasa.
On our Rural Outreach.

In fiery Reds and cool Blues and intense Blacks.
After their final classes this time round.

Athletes. Artistes. Dancers.

We are, because of you.
Thank you for being so good, so consistent and growing so so fast.
Classical Dance needs you.
Bharata Natyam and Classical Ballet and everything athletic and artistic done for it and around it need you.

Your little bodies with loads of Junoon packed into them - strength, stamina, speed, agility, flexibility, length, expansion, passion and devotion - are the beginning and breeding ground of a lot of dreams.

Grow. Smile. Smile as you grow.
And never ever forget to see how far you've come, in such a short while...

THE JUNOON GIRL SQUAD
Here, in Dhasa.
On our Rural Outreach.

In fiery Reds and cool Blues and intense Blacks.
After their final classes this time round.

Athletes. Artistes. Dancers.

We are, because of you.
Thank you for being so good, so consistent and growing so so fast.
Classical Dance needs you.
Bharata Natyam and Classical Ballet and everything athletic and artistic done for it and around it need you.

Your little bodies with loads of Junoon packed into them - strength, stamina, speed, agility, flexibility, length, expansion, passion and devotion - are the beginning and breeding ground of a lot of dreams.

Grow. Smile. Smile as you grow.
And never ever forget to see how far you've come, in such a short while...

So much of Dance is Joy. So much of Dance is about opening your heart and setting it free.

Breathe, release, you can't hold onto happiness. It has to be shared. It has to be shared. It has to be danced!

"Hastena Artham Pradarshayet" Our hands, our vehicles of meaning. We often look at them to infuse them with that meaning. And then, hopefully, it diffuses into the world.

Reaching for that place that isn't where you are, Looking at it, out in the distance, And knowing, if you dance hard enough, you're going to get there. You're going to get there. Fix your stare, fix your feet, fix that heart.

This Ground, Enabling Foundation and Flight, Is the Cornerstone. Bow Down Dancer, Touch, Feel, Pray and Play! It will carry you through the crusade.

The expanse of our arms are our universe. We can make it as big or as small as we need to. But the gaze - it's faraway, Always dancing into new galaxies, Searching new stars, For movement is ever-expanding And the light is right behind you, as you explore it.

Sometimes, you'll find the edge, in a corner. Dance is like that. You never know what you'll discover with every move. Until you look all around, eyes wide open, searching...

If the light could teach us to stay light, On our feet, In our minds, We could wait a while in it and let it warm our limbs. The dance will continue from here, Lighter and Brighter. Hence, Stronger.

Hands are designed for articulation, gesture and agility. Feet are designed for stability, grounding and balance. As dancers we get to play with it in both ways. Together, they point the dance in every direction it wants to go...

We stretch ourselves far in the hope that one day we will Move like we imagine we might. Sometimes, the change is so slight, You wonder why it took so much stretching to get it right!

Often you're waiting for something you know may never arrive. Somewhere between passive and dreamy Is also where a dancer resides, But you prolong the dance because the pausing is part of the strife. Linger a while, Your spirit will move when a sound calls like a sign.

As a dancer, You will go far. Further than you ever have. And when you look at that reach, The light in your eyes is something you glaringly feel.

To surrender, to submit, to bow down to your Art Takes courage, takes humility, takes resolve, An Artiste may be born when you're willing to give it your all. Strip it all away, Begin Bare, Begin from the ground. The journey to Art is a long and humbling one.