My practice routine is surely more detailed and aware, thanks to all the effective suggestions and directions heard through Apoorva's voice throughout this year. The course helped me question every single movement instead of giving sone of the movements for granted.

Yes, although I have not been able to put in as much practice as I would like due to school and work, this course has changed the way I practice. Even if I am only practicing for a short amount of time, I now understand how to make the best use of my time by practicing in small parts that I need to work on and focusing on detail rather than doing the whole piece over and over.

YES! I have been exercising regularly, but dance practice was not happening on a regular basis. While I had the obligation of memorizing the lines, abhinaya or nritta, the course also motivated me immensely to work with my body and mind, to go past limitations I had imposed on myself (based on age, background, accident etc) and to truly work from the basics. To not give up if the adavu did not feel "good enough" (an obstacle my mind is good at throwing at me). To keep practicing the same korvai numerous times and hammer it in my body and mind. To recite the kaNakku whether I am ironing my clothes or loading the dishwasher. This was one of the things I mentioned in my application - that I was learning pieces to teach others, to pass it on, but that I myself was not dancing. In that respect, I am so grateful and so happy that I have begun (!) dancing!

Definitely. Throughout the session, mam told us so many techniques and tricks, which helped us a lot. Now, instead of just learning adavus and abhinaya, I try to find out the technique behind them. And also, now we know the secret behind why Apoorva Mam's dance look so great, and the same dance when we use to do looks not that good. And I will work hard to achieve that.

This course has helped me greatly in my practice routine. It has shifted the focus from staying in the territory of "the known", to elevating my standards and aspirations for my own dance. This change in attitude has given me the confidence to lead my practice sessions using the same methods Apoorva akka and I worked on in class. The same tools used in shifting focus to different elements of the music, rhythm, technique, choreographic intention, lyrics, etc. is helping me slowly build a voice and style of my own that is grounded in: integrity of form and intention of communication. My practice is also becoming more of a full-body experience, which includes actively using my focus/thought-process to improve the quality of my dancing. I am also shifting my use of repetition - previously not used to improve, but rather to memorize - now as a method to build layers of memory which are not simply restricted to adavus, but also details around full-body technique and thought-process. Repetition is also used now to get deeper into the dance, opposed to trying to replicate same-ness - this has been a BIG learning.

Approaches we used in class such as working backwards and building the jathi and recording and reviewing my own videos helped me be more deliberate with my practice.