Tamil Mārgam – An International Bharatanatyam Course

A holistic Bharatanatyam learning journey through Tamil texts: Thiruvasakam, Silappadikaram, Tanjore Quartet, Divya Prabandham, Thirumurai, Rama Natakam, Bharathiyar Kavithai, Thirumandhiram and Tholkappiyam.

Overview

Tamil Mārgam is an opportunity to learn and experience a Tamil Mārgam through a holistic approach to Bharatanatyam, delving deeper into the compositions rather than focusing solely on learning choreography.

At the heart of the programme is the Tamil language and its rich literary, musical and devotional traditions. Through carefully selected compositions, participants will explore the relationship between Tamil poetry, meaning, music, rhythm, abhinaya and movement, developing a deeper understanding of how language and context inform Bharatanatyam performance.

The Mārgam is approached not simply as a sequence of choreographed works to be learnt, but as an artistic learning journey.

The core programme is led by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah (BFA, MFA, M.Phil, PhD(ongoing) in Bharatanatyam), an internationally acclaimed Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer and Associate Creative Director of Apsaras Dance Company. He is joined by guest faculty: Bragha Bessell, Prof. S. Raguraman, Sheejith Krishna, Dr. Anjana Anand, Aravinth Kumarasamy, Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi, Priyadarsini Govind, Dr. Brindha Manickavasakan and Rama Vaidyanathan.

Learning Beyond Choreography

The course is enriched by guest faculty from different areas of the arts, who offer specialist sessions that complement the repertoire being studied. These encounters give participants perspectives on Tamil literature, music, rhythm, history, performance practice, interpretation and the concept of abhinaya.

The aim is to nurture practitioners who do not merely reproduce choreography, but understand what they dance, why they dance it, and how they can embody its poetry and musicality with sensitivity.

Course Duration and Learning Format

Duration: 12 months
Frequency: One class per week
Mode: Weekly online, with quarterly in-person sessions for only Singapore and UK-based participants

Designed as a year-long immersive learning journey, the programme gives participants the time and space to engage meaningfully with each composition through guided learning, individual practice, reflection and artistic exploration.

The weekly sessions progressively develop the participant’s understanding of technique, repertoire, poetry, music, rhythm and abhinaya, allowing the Mārgam to unfold organically over the course of the year.

Who Can Apply?

Tamil Mārgam is designed for advanced Bharatanatyam dancers and practitioners who wish to deepen their artistic, literary and interpretative understanding of the form. The programme is suitable for:
- Dancers who have completed their Arangetram
- Bharatanatyam teachers and dance practitioners
- Dancers currently at an advanced level of training
- Practitioners seeking to deepen their understanding of Tamil literature, music, abhinaya and choreographic interpretation
Participants are expected to have a strong foundation in Bharatanatyam technique and familiarity with the traditional Mārgam.

The Repertoire

The repertoire has been carefully curated to introduce participants to Tamil through different literary periods, authentic poetic voices, a variety of musical compositions and innovative choreographic approaches.

01 — Invocation Medley

A unique composition comprising Pushpanjali, Alarippu and Kauthuvam, set to the Sivapuranam by Manikkavasakar (Thiruvasakam) in Ragamalika and Tisra Triputa Talam. Music composition: Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi

Conceived as an innovative invocatory composition, the piece begins with a Pushpanjali, offering flowers in reverence, before unfolding into an Alarippu in Tisra Triputa Talam, interspersed with Kauthuvam syllables that invoke and embody the attributes of Lord Shiva.

Verses from the Sivapuranam are woven into the composition, bringing together nritta, rhythmic vocabulary, Tamil sacred poetry and devotion. The traditional structures of Pushpanjali, Alarippu and Kauthuvam encounter one another to create a layered opening to the Tamil Mārgam.

Participants will explore how the invocation of Shiva can influence the quality, intention and physicality of movement, while developing an understanding of how rhythm, sacred text and imagery can coexist within choreographic structure.

02 — Shabdham: Kuthambalam

Set to verses from Ilango Adigal’s Silappadikaram in Ragamalika and Mistra Chapu Talam. Music composition: Aravinth Kumarasamy

Kuthambalam draws inspiration from the architectural principles and specifications for a traditional performance stage described by the Jain poet-prince Ilango Adigal in the ancient Tamil epic Silappadikaram.

Drawing upon verses from the epic, the composition explores the measurements, spatial arrangements and architectural considerations involved in constructing a performance space, revealing the sophisticated relationship between architecture, the performing body and theatrical practice in ancient Tamil culture.

The selected verses have been set to music within the format of a traditional Bharatanatyam Shabdham, bringing an ancient literary description into dialogue with the structure and vocabulary of Bharatanatyam.

For the practitioner, the composition provides an opportunity to explore how space, proportion, geometry and architecture can inform choreography, while engaging directly with one of Tamil literature’s great classical epics.

03 — Varnam: Mohamana

A traditional, timeless Pada Varnam with innovative choreography, in Ragam Bhairavi and Rupaka Talam, composed by Ponnaiah Pillai (Tanjore Quartet).

At the centre of the Mārgam is Mohamana, approached through the voice of a flower-garland seller outside the temple of Thiruvarur Thyagaraja, the central nayika of this composition.

The nayika has grown up hearing stories of the deity, witnessing his magnificent processions and becoming captivated by his grand persona and divine attributes. Over the years, this childhood fascination transforms into an intimate and profound longing.

Through her voice, participants will explore how memory, place, devotion and desire can shape the emotional landscape of Shringara, the queen of rasas, in this Varnam.

This composition offers extensive space to investigate shringara, bhakti, character development, improvisation, musicality and the relationship between nritta and abhinaya.

04 — Āṇḍāl Paasuram

“Vaaranam Aayiram”, a poignant Tamil literary work of Āṇḍāl, set in Ragamalika and Talamalika. Music composition: Dr. Sridar Vasudevan

Drawn from the sixth tirumozhi of Āṇḍāl’s Naachiyar Tirumozhi, Vaaranam Aayiram offers participants an opportunity to encounter one of Tamil devotional literature’s most evocative poetic compositions.

Across ten verses, Āṇḍāl narrates a dream in which she experiences her divine wedding to Lord Narayana. The imagery of a traditional Tamil wedding, from the arrival of the bridegroom and ceremonial preparations to sacred rituals, vows and union, becomes the poetic landscape through which her longing for the Divine unfolds.

Through text, music, movement and interpretation, participants will explore how Āṇḍāl transforms a deeply personal dream into a profound metaphor for the soul’s longing for union with the Divine.

05 — Thevara Thoguppu

Selected verses of Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar from the sacred Thevara Thirumurai, set in Ragamalika and Talamalika. Music composition: Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi

A compilation of Thevarams by three of the great Shaivite saint-poets: Sambandar, Appar and Sundarar.

The composition invites dancers to understand the distinctive relationship each saint shared with Lord Shiva: the intimacy of the child, the humility of the servant and the familiarity of the friend.

Particular attention will be given to how their use of the Tamil language, poetic expression and imagery reflects these differing relationships with Shiva.

The choreography also explores Mashrutha Nrittam, where the movement vocabulary itself becomes a vehicle for emotional expression. Rather than treating pure dance and abhinaya as entirely separate territories, participants investigate how emotion, character and meaning can inhabit physical movement.

06 — Padam

“Eppadi Manam Thuninthatho”, a composition of Arunachala Kavirayar from his magnum opus Rama Natakam, set in Ragam Huseni and Mistra Chapu Talam.

Eppadi Manam Thuninthatho (“How did your heart have the courage?”) enters the emotional realm of Sita at the moment Rama prepares for vanavasa, fourteen years of exile, leaving Sita behind in Ayodhya.

The composition enables participants to explore how Arunachala Kavirayar’s Tamil sahitya constructs Sita’s emotional and psychological world, offering an interpretation of a compelling nayika.

Rather than simply illustrating an episode from the Ramayana, dancers will investigate Sita’s perspective: her agency, emotional strength and resolve to share Rama’s journey.

07 — Bharathiyar Kavithai

“Annaiyai Pottri”, a poem by Subramania Bharati from his renowned collection Kannan En Thai (Kannan as my Mother), set in Ragamalika and Talamalika. Music composition: Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi

Through the poetic imagination of Subramania Bharati, the familiar relationship between the human and the divine is transformed.

Here, Kannan is envisioned as the mother and humanity as the child, while elements of the natural world become the toys through which the divine mother nurtures, entertains and educates her children.

The composition opens a distinctive landscape for abhinaya rooted in imagination, tenderness, nature and metaphor.

Participants will investigate how Bharati’s poetic imagery can be translated into movement and how the everyday world can become a means of experiencing the divine.

08 — Thillana

Set in Ragam Jonpuri and Aadi Talam. Music composition: Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi

The Tamil Mārgam enables participants to culminate the journey with the Thillana.

While retaining the rhythmic vitality and structural character of the traditional Thillana, the choreography explores how images of Shiva can emerge through movement itself. The composition incorporates a dialogue between the dancer and the music through Suddha Nrittam.

The charanam expands this vision into the cosmos: Shiva dances within the atom, in the resonance of the ocean and throughout every direction of the universe.

Participants will investigate how abstract movement, rhythmic structures and spatial patterns can create imagery while retaining the essential kinetic energy of the Thillana.

The composition brings the Mārgam to an expansive conclusion: Shiva’s dance is not confined to an image or temple, but exists throughout the cosmos.

Supplementary Sessions: Lecture Series by Guest Faculty

An integral part of Tamil Mārgam is a specially curated lecture series featuring distinguished choreographers, educators and scholars. Each session complements the repertoire being studied, enabling participants to encounter the Mārgam through literature, history, music, abhinaya, choreography and artistic practice.

The lectures create a bridge between scholarship and embodied practice, giving participants a deeper understanding of the cultural and artistic worlds from which the compositions emerge.

01 — அபிநயத்தின் ஏணிப்படிகள்

Abhinayathin Eṇippadigal (Learning Ladders) · Priyadarsini Govind

An exploration of the fundamental building blocks of abhinaya, introducing a structured methodology through which expression can be approached logically, consistently and progressively.

Moving beyond imitation or the reproduction of choreography, the session encourages participants to understand how expression is constructed, internalised, interpreted and communicated, developing greater independence and sensitivity as expressive performers.

02 — ஆற்றலும் அபிநயமும்

Aattralum Abhinayamum · Smt. Bragha Bessell

An exploration of abhinaya and the expressive potential of the performer, examining how emotion, imagination, interpretation and lived experience contribute to the communication of a composition.

The session encourages participants to discover their individual expressive capacity and develop the sensitivity required to move beyond representation towards a more personal, nuanced and compelling experience of abhinaya.

03 — சிலப்பதிகாரத்தில் நாட்டியம்

Silappadikaarathil Nattiyam · Prof. S. Raguraman

An exploration of dance, theatre and performance in the Silappadikaram, providing literary, historical and cultural perspectives on the sophisticated performance traditions documented within the ancient Tamil epic.

The session particularly enriches the study of Kuthambalam within the Tamil Mārgam, enabling participants to understand the literary and cultural world from which the composition and its ideas about performance space emerge.

04 — நாட்டியமும் சங்கீதமும்

Nattiyamum Sangeethamum · Dr. Brindha Manickavasakan

An exploration of the intimate relationship between Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music, examining how an understanding of melody, rhythm, sahitya and musical phrasing can deepen a dancer’s interpretation and performance.

Participants will learn to listen beyond counts and choreography, developing sensitivity towards raga bhava, melodic nuances, pauses, emphasis and musical expression. The session considers how movement and abhinaya can embody and visualise music, allowing nattiyam and sangeetham to exist in meaningful dialogue.

05 — உணர்வும் ரசமும்

Unarvum Rasamum · Dr. Anjana Anand

An exploration of the relationship between unarvu (emotion) and rasa (aesthetic experience), drawing upon ideas of expression found in Tamil texts such as the Tholkappiyam and Koothanool and their relevance to Bharatanatyam.

Through the compositions of the Tamil Mārgam, participants will examine how emotion is understood, internalised and shaped through abhinaya, movement, music, poetry and imagination, transforming the performer’s emotional experience into rasa shared with the spectator.

06 — திருவாரூரும் தியாகேசரும்

Thiruvaarurum Thiyagesarum · Aravinth Kumarasamy

A journey into Thiruvarur, its cultural landscape and Lord Thyagaraja, introducing the historical, devotional and cultural contexts surrounding the temple, the deity and the traditions associated with this sacred centre.

The session complements the study of the Bhairavi Varnam, Mohamana, enabling participants to better understand the world inhabited by the nayika and the devotional and emotional dimensions of her relationship with Thiruvarur Thyagaraja.

07 — சப்தமும் நிசப்தமும்

Shabdamum Nishabdamum · Sheejith Krishna

An exploration of sound and silence in Bharatanatyam, examining how music, rhythm, spoken text, breath, stillness and silence can become integral elements of choreographic and expressive language.

Through the dialogue between shabdam and nishabdam, movement and stillness, participants will explore how silence can heighten presence, emotion, anticipation and dramatic intensity, developing a more sensitive awareness of timing, space and presence in performance.

08 — பாரதியும் கவிநயமும்

Bharathiyum Kavinayamum · Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi

An exploration of the poetry of Subramania Bharati, led by his great-grandson Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi, examining the distinctive poetic imagination through which Bharati explored devotion, humanity, nature and the divine.

The session provides a deeper literary, cultural and musical foundation for interpreting Bharati’s poetry within the Tamil Mārgam, particularly the composition that imagines Kannan as Mother, enriching the dancer’s understanding of its poetry, imagery and emotional world.

09 — திருமந்திரமும் பரதமும்

Thirumandhiramum Bharathamum · Rama Vaidyanathan

An exploration of Thirumoolar’s Thirumandhiram, a seminal Tamil Shaivite philosophical and spiritual text of over 3,000 verses, as a source for choreographic and expressive enquiry in Bharatanatyam.

Through selected verses and philosophical concepts, participants will investigate ways of translating ideas of the body, consciousness, spirituality and the relationship between the human and the divine into movement and abhinaya, discovering how Bharatanatyam can embody philosophical thought beyond its literary expression.

Online and In-Person Learning

The course is delivered primarily online, enabling dancers from different parts of the world to participate.

For participants based in Singapore and the UK, one additional in-person session each quarter provides an opportunity to work directly on physical clarity, technique, expression, spatial awareness and the finer nuances that are more effectively explored in the studio.

Graduation Performance and Certification (UK | USA | Singapore | Australia)

The year-long Tamil Mārgam journey will culminate in a Graduation Ceremony and Evening of Performance in both Singapore and London, giving participants an opportunity to present selected works from the repertoire explored throughout the programme.

The graduation will be held in the esteemed presence of distinguished artistes, cultural practitioners and invited dignitaries, creating a meaningful platform to celebrate the artistic growth and achievements of each participant.

The evening will bring together performance, reflection and recognition, marking the culmination of a year devoted not only to learning repertoire, but to developing a deeper understanding of Tamil poetry, music, movement, history and interpretative practice.

Upon successful completion of the programme, participants will be formally presented with a certificate awarded by Apsaras Arts Academy, an internationally renowned institution known for its innovative academic excellence for the past fifty years.

In Summary

Participants will:

Learn a complete Tamil Mārgam: an immersive journey through a carefully curated and designed Bharatanatyam repertoire, with a holistic approach featuring Tamil compositions.
Go beyond choreography: explore sahitya, meaning, music, rhythm, abhinaya, history and cultural context to understand not only how to dance, but what you dance and why.

Learn from a distinguished panel of faculty: led by Mohanapriyan Thavarajah (BFA, MFA, M.Phil, PhD in Bharatanatyam), with renowned choreographers, educators and scholars including Bragha Bessell, Prof. S. Raguraman, Sheejith Krishna, Dr. Anjana Anand, Aravinth Kumarasamy, Dr. Rajkumar Bharathi, Priyadarsini Govind, Dr. Brindha Manickavasakan and Rama Vaidyanathan.
Attend hybrid sessions: weekly online classes, complemented by quarterly in-person sessions in Singapore and the UK only.
Graduate: complete the journey with a Graduation Performance in Singapore, UK, USA & Australia receiving certification from Apsaras Arts Academy, internationally renowned for its innovative academic and performing arts excellence over the last 50 years.

Course Calendar

Registration: 20 October – 10 November 2026
Selected applicants notified by: 15 November 2026
Course duration: 1 December 2026 – 1 December 2027
Core sessions: once a week online, and once a quarter in person in UK & Singapore only.
Supplementary sessions: 9 online lectures by guest faculty during the course

Course Fee

Item	Singapore	UK	Australia	USA
Registration Fee	S$30	£20	AUD20	USD50
Core sessions: 50 online and 4 in person (per session)	S$40	£25	AUD25	USD30
Supplementary sessions: 9 online lectures by guest faculty	Included	Included	Included	Included
Graduation performance: one session each in Singapore and London	S$150	£100	AUD180	USD150