Dansense~Nrtyabodha, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, promotes Indian dance arts through lessons, workshops, collaborations, and accessible programming. Focusing on inquiry as a foundation to build a strong learning community, Dansense~Nrtyabodha strives to foster the dancer's inner journey towards a voice of strength & grace and to guide the dancer's outer journey towards projecting that voice in meaningful community engagement. Dansense~Nrtyabodha seeks to awaken our senses to the power of dance.
Under the direction of Sumana Sen Mandala, Dansense has shared the art and culture of Indian classical dance for more than 20 years. Dansense is unique in its teaching of Indian dance because of its focus on Bharata Nrityam pedagogy, in which Sumana specialized under the guidance of Padma Bhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam over 3 years of full-time study. A thorough and disciplined teaching style further enhanced by an MFA degree in Dance from ASU guides students to an holistic understanding of Indian dance with a firm grounding in Natyashastra theory and Bharata-Natyam. Sumana dedicates herself to nurturing students' creative skills and helping them adapt their education to their personal experiences, while acknowledging the traditions that have scaffolded the artistic expression of the dance form. The hallmark of Dansense, beyond its unique pedagogy, is its engagement with community to share the beauty & power of Bharata Nrityam by valuing voices that are silenced and by creating & producing works in more accessible, non-traditional spaces.
