Alisha Menon demonstrates Bharatanatyam dance movements

Alisha Menon is a part of the Anjali School of Dance in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Bharatanatyam is a 2000 year old classical Indian dance form that originated in the temples of South India. The word Bharatanatyam can be further broken down into 4 parts: 'Bha' - Bhavam (expression), 'Ra' - Ragam (music), 'Ta - Talam (beat or rhythm) and Natyam (dance)
Bharatanatyam can be divided into 2 major aspects: Nritta and Nritya. Nritta consists of pure dance movements using rhythms. Nritya consists of conveying emotions and stories using face expressions and hand gestures. There are specific hand gestures that denote, for instance - you, me, the sky, birds, etc. As with any classical dance form, Bharatanatyam takes several years of training to achieve perfection of movement.
In the video, Alisha performs a pure dance (nritta) item. This is an excerpt from the Anjali School of Dance's presentation of "A midsummer Night's Dream" - where Alisha plays the role of Puck.