Bharatnatyam

A Famous Indian Classical Dance of India

Salutations To Our People, Staff, Teams…We love you.

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Ms. Hetal maintains a structured database of participants, including parents, students, interns, and staff engaged with our programs. Participants may join either on-site or remotely, depending on program requirements and accessibility needs.

All internships, school-linked placements, and college-associated training opportunities are structured as paid positions, where applicable, to ensure equitable access and professional development for students. In addition, select volunteer opportunities are offered for community engagement and supplementary learning experiences.

Our team structure includes administrative staff, program coordinators, and interns, and we ensure appropriate introductions and engagement with all stakeholders as needed for program delivery and oversight.

Program leadership and operational direction are primarily overseen by Hetal Nagaraj, ensuring continuity, accountability, and alignment across all activities and participants.

Workforce Development, Staffing & Training Model – Our organization engages individuals from diverse educational and professional backgrounds. Team members are either onboarded through direct recruitment or developed through structured internship and training pathways designed to build industry-relevant skills in creative, administrative, and technical fields.

We maintain a blended workforce model that includes employees, interns, contractors, and project-based collaborators. This may include partnerships with external vendors, freelancers, and service providers. Where applicable, relevant executive or organizational contacts from these partner entities are documented within project staffing records for transparency and accountability. Everybody is welcomed from all walks of life!

School-ISD & University Student Support Systems –

The Company is committed to strengthening academic pathways by supporting a wide range of educational formats, including school electives, college electives, supplementary learning programs, and credit-bearing coursework delivered both through and independent of formal school systems.

Our programs are designed to assist students enrolled in high school and post-secondary institutions, including those pursuing honors tracks such as National Junior Honor Society (NJHS), scholar pathways, and university degree programs. Participation is available to eligible students who are formally enrolled in an accredited educational institution and meet applicable program requirements.

The Company facilitates structured academic engagement through partnerships and coordination with educational institutions, including support for credit hour tracking, academic verification processes, and recommendation letter workflows where applicable. A secure online portal is provided to enable submission and management of coursework, credit documentation, and institutional communications, including recommendation requests from authorized supervisors or academic representatives. All participation is subject to compliance with applicable institutional policies and governing laws. Students entering certain programs may undergo an initial five-month probationary or evaluation period focused on foundational participation, engagement, and field-based experiential learning aligned with program objectives.

The Company supports inclusive access to education in accordance with applicable regulations and is committed to ensuring that students, regardless of background or residency classification, are provided equitable opportunities to engage in learning pathways where legally permissible. Under the leadership of Ms. Hetal, the organization is dedicated to providing hands-on, career-relevant educational experiences that prepare students to become industry-ready and academically accomplished by the time they complete their academic programs. Ms. Hetal supervises every single class and directs the individuals in their respective specialities.

  • Internship & Career Pathways
    • We offer structured opportunities across a range of roles, including but not limited to:
  • Administrative and program coordination roles
    • Social media and digital marketing internships
  • IT and website development internships
    • Operations and production support roles since 90% of infrastructure is created on IT platforms and custom builds.
  • OPT candidates and international graduates in performing arts and creative industries – We do not have OPT H1 Candidates till date, although certain opportunities were open to just about anybody.
  • Full-time, part-time, contract-based, W-2 employment, and nonprofit volunteer roles:
    • These roles are designed to create accessible entry points into the creative and cultural workforce while supporting long-term professional development.
  • Training & Capacity Building
    • All participants may be required to complete in-organization training programs focused on the use of operational infrastructure, including IT systems, digital platforms, service delivery tools, and client management systems. These trainings are provided internally to ensure consistency, quality control, and compliance with organizational workflows.
  • Scheduling & Work Structure
    • All roles operate under defined schedules, including pre-agreed working hours, assigned responsibilities, and approved time-off policies, including holidays and emergency leave considerations. Work assignments are coordinated through internal administrative systems to ensure effective project management and accountability.
  • Branding & Creative Identity
    • Participants may be encouraged to use professional pseudonyms or stage names (aliases, pen names, or alternate professional identities) where appropriate, particularly in creative or performance contexts. This practice supports personal brand development while maintaining separation between different professional domains. All such usage is documented through formal agreements and organizational records.
  • Organizational Culture
    • We foster a collaborative and inclusive environment where individuals from different disciplines come together through shared creative and professional engagement. Our community model emphasizes participation, skill-building, and long-term career development.
  • Ms. Hetal M. Joshi, also known professionally as Hetal Nagaraj, serves as the lead trainer and program director. She is a certified trainer from IIM-AMA and brings expertise across multiple specialized disciplines.
  • More information: Hetal N Official Website

Organizational Participation, Staffing & Participants (2011–2025)

1. Administrative & Core Coordination Staff

Swati Burra (Swati S.)

  • Role: Coordinator & Administrative Support
  • Tenure: 2011–2016
  • Work Structure: Part-time (4 days/week)
  • Summary:
    Swati Burra served in a key administrative and coordination role supporting scheduling, operations, and program logistics over a five-year period. She completed her training cycle and transitioned into independent IT consultancy work, reflecting successful professional development and career progression.

2. Early Program Collaborations

Krishna Veni Putrevu (Odyssey Program – 2012)

  • Program Type: Company-to-company collaborative training model
  • Duration: 6 months (2012)
  • Summary:
    Participated in a structured collaborative arts training initiative involving 12 students under a joint organizational model. During planning for geographic expansion, alignment challenges arose regarding North Dallas participation.
  • The collaboration was formally dissolved, and all 12 students continued their training within the South Irving folk arts program under Hetal Nagaraj.

3. Internships, Training & Student Development Pathways

Shruti Sheladia

  • Tenure: Aug 2012 – Dec 2013
  • Role: Intern / Leadership Trainee (as available)
  • Summary:
    Engaged intermittently in internship and leadership assignments. The engagement concluded due to non-continuation of assigned responsibilities and limited participation consistency.
  • Additional Note: Sponsored participation in Raas Nationals (organization-funded opportunity). Sponsorship by Hetal Joshi Nagaraj.

Mansi Chauhan

  • Internship: Aug 2014 – Aug 2015
  • Leadership Role: Jan 2015 – July 2019 (as available)
  • Summary:
    Participated in NJHS scholar pathways, volunteer programs, and leadership assignments. Engagement reduced over time due to academic commitments, travel, and external priorities.
  • Additional Notes:
    Completed structured dance training in multiple categories and participated in long-term programs (2013–2023), including workshops, performances, and curriculum-based instruction.
  • 2012-2023 – Successful 10 Year Contract Completed with all work assigned, completed, delivered with all due payments to company and several was key part of several development projects within the company.

4. Direct Hire & Performance Artists

Rinku Das

  • Tenure: Nov 2018 – Aug 2019
  • Role: Direct Hire Performer
  • Summary:
    Performed classical Manipuri and Kathak works, including participation in Anantha-1 (2019) production. Engagement concluded following contract completion and enrollment-based participation requirements not being met for continued collaboration. Rinku Das is director of Nrityajyoti Dance Academy.

Digvijay Singh (DG / DJ / Jasmindar & Family)

  • Tenure: Aug 2018 – 2024
  • Roles: Intern → Leadership Contributor → Digital Asset Strategy Manager (Paid Role, 2022)
  • Summary:
    Progressed through internship and leadership responsibilities in digital and operational support functions, later transitioning into a paid strategic role in digital asset management.
  • 2025-Relocation.

5. Freelancers & Project-Based Collaborators,

Some are own students, grads or Elites. Full Direction of Ms. Hetal to achieve milestones for company.

  • Navneet Jadeja & Family – Visiting artist collaborators (India-based freelance performer, performs in India)
    • Mumbai, Delhi.
  • Hetal Shah Patel & Family – Creative collaborators (IT + dance projects via hetaln.com) – Grad and Elite.
    • Aug 2016 – 2026.
  • Vanita Patel – Freelance performer – Grad and Elite.
    • 2018-2026.
  • Jinal Shah Mehta – Project collaborator (former Reachh Mediaa association) – Grad and Elite.
    • Aug 2018 to current.
  • Kalpana Sai – PR and project-based freelancer (2019–present) – Grad and Elite.
  • Shweta (Thakkar) Jagadish – Long-term freelance performer (2016–2025)
  • Deepthi Chandrasekaran – Solo artist / instructor (2014–2018, 2019-2022 Ad-hoc stage performances) – Grad and Elite- Bollywood. 2025.
  • Sindhu J – Student → Graduate performer → occasional project contributor – Grad and Elite.
  • Ruchita Umesh – 2020 – Online lessons, Batches were rolled off due to low enrollments. On-boarding Trial Period.
  • Santosh K – June 2016 – 2021 March 21 – Online Only.
    • 2016-2020 – Paid – Pre Judgement, Non Classical – For all star international.
    • 2016-2017 – Paid – Research Rubrics.
    • June 2020 – March 22, 2021 – Elites, Age 10, Online Classes Only.
    • 2022 September – Special gigs, online.
  • Yagna Pathak – 2019 Sept 1s week – Oct 1, 2019 – Dancer.
  • Jeya Ravi – External Continued Education/Performing Teams – Dancer.
  • Dr Puja Natesan – Performing team, Graduate and Elite.
    • Continued Education, Performing Team. Anantha 2020.
    • Grad and Elite. Reachh Mediaa Group – PR.
  • Kavitha R- August 2018 – 2021 – Auto Immune Break – Can join back when she produces certificate to return to work.
  • Tejaswini K – August 2018
    • Performing teams, Gad and Elite.
    • Continued Education. Family Planning Break from Jan 2019.
  • Mandi Parikh – Holiday Performer – August 2018 – Nov 1, 2022
    • Dance with Elite teams only 2022-2023.
    • Mexico Performances from 2024. Short Projects, Gigs, Admin work.
  • Bhuvaneshwari Murugan – 2016-2017 –
    • 52 hour workshop online delivered, 1 commercial performance
  • Prushti Dave – IT –
    • Inventory Systems – Custom Build designed by Ms. Hetal Joshi Nagaraj – 2017
    • March – August 2019 – Back office, IT support
    • Leadership Work 2019 August onwards – Web infrastructure, google console, Seo Teams.
    • moved to Ms. Hetal, permanently.
  • Anamika Jain – June 2019.
    • Performing teams. Sponsored program gigs for celebrities.
    • 2020-too many work travel.
  • Ketki S – June 2019 – Oct 2019.
  • Nimisha Sri – Holidays March 2019 – 2021 –
    • Anantha 2019. Performance
    • 1 photoshoot gig.
  • Devi S – Balasundaram – Sept 2019 – Oct 31, 2019
  • Taylor Hayes – August 2020 – April 2021 – G2 Staff direct hire, relocated.
  • Anna Vacques – Sept 2021 – June 13, 2022 – G2 Success – Grads. Lay-off. Closure of Location.
  • Mina – Hiphop – Sept 2021 – June 15, 2022.Lay-off. Closure of Location.
  • Marchawn Franklin – Sept 2021-June 2022.Lay-off. Closure of Location.
    • Admin work refined under Ms. Hetal for online meetings, conferences.
    • IT Internships – Success on company’s all the automated systems.
  • Jaimin Patel – June 30, 2022.
  • Vinish Vasam – Sept 30, 2022 – Feb 22, 2023.
  • Preethi Cholleti – 2023-2024 – Dancer.
    • Ms. Hetal refused to come to Mckinney.
    • Gigs as available.
  • Anula 2022-current – Elite by Audition Programs
    • Performances in company shows, gigs, Sponsored programs by Hetal Nagaraj.
    • Brand Paused – Moved to Vendor Programs by Hetal Nagaraj.
  • Jae Soon – 2019 – 2021 – G2 Launch Activities, Brand Launch.
    • Closure of location – 2022.
    • Continued Associations for Commercial Gigs – Online.
  • Aahana M – 2022-2023 – Bollywood Program – 12 hours & Rehearsal Ms. Hetal – Grade and Elite.
    • Bollywood, Folk Dances of India, Kalaripayattu, Creatives, Mixed Martial Arts Demonstrations.

6. Program Graduates & Structured Training Outcomes

Multiple participants completed structured training pathways (2011–2026), including:

  • Classical and Folk Dance Education
  • Bollywood and Fusion Programs
  • NJHS (National Junior Honor Society, Education-Scholar Paths) are :
    • Amuy*** – Student Intern
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path, Relocation due to degree studies.
      • Grace Effect Photography Initiative, in association with LISD Electives.
    • Mansi Chauhan, Student Intern – 7th grade.
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path
      • Grad And Elite.
      • Commercial Competition Initiative.
    • Nirja Setty – Student from age of 4.5 years.
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path
      • Grad And Elite
      • Several Initiatives within the company, record breaking straight 10 years of win in competitions in Bharatanatyam, Folk, Hiphop, K-Pop and Bollywood.
    • Samarth Setty – Student from age of 3 years.
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path
      • Grad And Elite.
      • Several Initiatives within the company, record breaking straight 8 years of win in competitions in Bharatanatyam, Folk, Hiphop, Kalaripayattu-Martial Arts Demonstrations, K-Pop and Bollywood.
    • Ashna Pethe – Student from age of 8 years.
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path
      • Grad And Elite.
    • Avani Parihar –
      • Volunteer – NJHS Scholar Path
      • 51 hours of successful tasks assigned and completed along with in-person private package trainings for correction lessons in Bharatanatyam.
      • Group Lessons – Bharatanatyam – Adavus.
      • Ms. Hetal refused to come to Prosper.
  • Performance-based curriculum tracks
  • Annual production participation (Anantha series and other showcases)

Participants transitioned into independent artistic, academic, or freelance careers after program completion.

8. Operational Challenges & Program Disruptions

System Disruption & Fraud to the company (2021-2022 Period)

During this period, the organization experienced operational disruptions associated with reported, documented fraud-related activity and system interference concerns, which were escalated to relevant authorities for review.

These disruptions contributed to:

  • Temporary pauses in program delivery systems
  • Administrative restructuring
  • Delays in certain project pipelines
  • Reallocation of internal resources toward system recovery and continuity
  • Individuals in fraud interferences – Saumya Bhardwaj Kaur / Saumya Kaur.

Despite these challenges, core instructional and performance programs continued in modified formats, including hybrid and online delivery models.

8. Contractual Outcomes & Engagement Closures (Selected Examples)

Across programs, several engagements concluded due to standard operational factors such as:

  • Scheduling or location constraints
  • Academic or personal commitments
  • Transition to independent work
  • Enrollment or participation limitations
  • Contract completion or mutual non-renewal

All closures were handled within structured program frameworks, with many participants continuing independent artistic or professional pathways afterward.f

9. Sponsorship & Community Support Activities

The organization has provided sponsored participation opportunities in cultural programs, competitions, and national events, including full or partial funding for select student experiences as part of its community arts mission.

10. Long-Term Program Impact (2013–2023)

  • 10-year continuous program cycle with structured training delivery
  • Multiple cohorts trained across classical, folk, and contemporary forms
  • Students transitioned into independent artistic, academic, and professional roles
  • Consistent delivery of performances, workshops, and educational outcomes
  • Development of hybrid IT + arts internship pathways

We Are HIRING : Managers – Who knows legal formalities, on-site issues, studio operation, product management and should be aware of performing arts formalities, for all age groups. Degree not required but will be preferred. 972 979 2559.

Non Staff – External Dancers – By Auditions and from own couples or other workshops or private packages :

  • Krishna Pseudo name – aka Hi**** – Male – Dancer. from own couples package – No Show.
  • Nandika Jay – Female – Own Texas All Star Talent Student – Successfully Delivered.
  • Tani*** and sister (Flowermound)- Dancer Female. from own couples package – Successfully Delivered.

List of occasional dancers / dance  only (no teaching and no other work) :

  1. Baz**. Lewisville, Grapevine. 2 solo performances.

— We are NOT hiring at this moment —

Our other teams / staff currently under us or our trainings of various fields :

It is really sad that actions of fraud have affected Ms. Preethi and Ms. Anula’s engagements and all the activities at such a massive scale. luckily contracts saved the company!

Our contracts are for our company’s safety and does not bind anybody unless you are a full timer or for special turnkey high budget sensitive projects and those are rare or most often not offered to newbies or first timers or those just stepping in because of experience level or until they master certain technicalities or have ability to take the full load like our Elites do. The contract has an auto expiry as well which allows artists to have complete freedom :). Ethically or morally speaking as well it stands true.

This post is an appreciation to these lovely people for spending their precious time for us. We have received lot of rumors about who works for us or Mrs. Hetal Nagaraj. Our people are very well set in their life with their full time job commitments either with us or with their own college work or other commitments. 

As a friendly note, all our Elites, Pre.Elites will be part of performance teams just as existing students or teams are.

Company Announcement : Feb 10, 2023 : People who have claimed to work with us but never worked with us or never provided us any services!

  • Points to ponder : You can bring business/money/opportunities to business OR
  • you can bring troubles to the business,
  • it is irrespective of what you bring to business!
  • It is still listed & we still have to be liable for each of your actions as our service provider or staff! At the end of the day, who is liable to reply for whatever you bring ?

We trust them because of their contributions to our company and it’s work. Some are fresh grads or housewives or our own fresh grads!

People who have claimed to work with us and never worked. List is here.

We offer part time, temporary work for seniors, stay at home moms, college students who are on legal status or on OPT. The work given to them depends on their specializations! All gadgets are given and all training is provided.

Ms. Hetal is a certified trainer from IIM – Ahmedabad – AMA corporate training program.

About her leadership certifications and achievements, other than performing arts – click here.

About Ms. Hetal – www.hetaln.com

These above candidates have not worked with any other dance company so far that we know of due to our thorough background check or if they have, they have disclosed it to us about their equations. We feel thankful and blessed.

Thank you for all you do and maintaining the transparency!

Certificates and Details.

We do not discriminate for gender/race/ethnicity/country/color and like to respect people who love to work. It is freewill life under Ms. Hetal. We do not ask them where they come from or where they go.

Updated on : May 26, 2019 | July 26, 2019 | Feb 26-27th 2019 | March 5, 2020 | June 30, 2020 | Feb 7, 11, 2022 | March 22, 2022 | June 23, 2022 | Sept 19, 2022 | Oct 4, 15, 2022 | Oct 17, 2022 | Nov 1, 16, 2022 | Jan 8, 2023 | Feb 20, 2023 | Feb 25, 2023 | March 15, 2023 | March 20, 2023 | April 20, 23 | July 8th, 2023 | Sept 4, 2023 | Sept 23, 2023 | Oct 22, 2023 | Nov 4, 2023 | Nov 10, 2023 | Nov 13, 2023 | Sept 23, 2024 | Sept 26, 2024 | Oct 1, 2024 | Oct 11, 2024 | Oct 17, 2024 | Oct 29, 2024 | March 20, 2025 | March 28, 2025.

Website : www.graceandgrooves.com

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/GraceAndGrooves

Twitter : https://twitter.com/GraceAndGrooves

Youtube Channel :https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSbZYIr0EPzrfPNzH_0FcVw

Pinterest : https://www.pinterest.com/graceandgrooves

Best Number To Contact : 972 979 2559.

Copyright Reach Media for Hetal Nagaraj | Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-Current. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Journey of Master In Fine Arts….Submitted By Hetal Nagaraj.

Asidegraceandgrooves group by hetal joshi Leave a comment

August 2016 : We were excited to hear the news that Hetal Nagaraj got accepted for Masters Program at TDES via Tamil University in August 2016. College:  Kalai Kaveri College of Fine Arts, Trichy, India.

A label & ID of OKC213160083A was given to her as Hetal Mahesh Joshi. She would mock to her students that she got her roll-number/student id too and that she is student too. Some of her students started calling her Hetal since then :).

University ID LOL

This makes us laugh for 2 reasons. First reason is, a very non-traditional picture-LOL. 2. Our owner was a student, not long ago 😛

Her inspiration of having a master degree in fine arts comes directly from one of her own cousin’s spouse/bhabhi (sister in law & aunt-2way relation:) who was enrolled in Masters Program @Darpana Academy, Ahmedabad India. Her Bhabhi had to leave her degree half-way for personal reasons and since then, Hetal Nagaraj had her mind set on doing Masters in either bharatnatyam, or theater with full dance work, at some point of time.

name checks..
course attachements
final year dissertations

Finding a university or dance program that not only offers robust MASTERS program of Bharatnatyam but also offers in-depth knowledge of Natya Shashtra, History, Styles, Theaters and Musicals with the flexibility of long distance program was a challenge. Hetal Nagaraj got accepted in 2 universities for this program with her dance experience, video clips of main margam, creative bharatnatyam dances, direct referral letters from her past dance teachers and her existing Master Degrees in other education stream that she already had. Rest all the universities had a requirement to do a full 2 year resident program and stay local for full two years with classes non-stop through the week and weekend! For those in India or want to pursue their degree in India for on-campus degrees within India, most welcome to contact Hetal Nagaraj:info@graceandgrooves.com, she’ll be very happy to guide you for all these courses.

Masters of Bharatnatyam

Master Of Fine Arts Year1

Biggest Challenge for Hetal Nagaraj was that she can’t just leave a young family and pursue dreams while running a full fledge A+ rating dance business with multiple locations, competitive performance schedules (almost every other month) in Bharatnatyam, Indian Folk Dances, Bollywood, Workshops, Elite performing team and all of that with her students taking part in competitions. Once you are married happily ever-after & have family, it is a package for whole family to achieve something as big as degree especially if parents are taking them; irrespective of whether or not you are in dance business! Whole family goes hand in hand to actually make it happen. Entire month of kids activities, planning meals for whole family, routines with home works, car-pooling, classes shuffled between choreographers as applicable in her absence, volunteer parents, website maintenance and it was STAAR Exam time for kids as well.

Bharatnatyam, Bharatanatyam

Break Time between classes…..all these are her classmates and they have dance businesses of their own in and out of India. Some in USA as well.

TDES via Tamil University gave her the options to not only be competitive at learning edge but flexibility to travel to Chennai for at-least one out of two degree years to give on-campus bharatnatyam theory exams, assignments, thesis/research,  presentations, do practical exams, live concert, musical and folk dance drama to be showcased before the teachers for grading.

All these dances were with full makeup and relevant costumes and costume change as required. Further, she decided to choose her degree location at Don Bosco College of Arts And Science, Chennai, India as her on-campus exam training (1 month required in person or average of 20-days) and examinations (practical and theory, in person). She decided Chennai as her location considering that Tamil History was one of the main subject and so she wanted to stay around Chennai to complete her research subject from locally available sources such as libraries, bookstores and visits to local dance schools. Don Bosco College of Arts And Science was her pick from the list due to her past upbringing of Convent Schools in Gandhinagar(India) and then affiliated programs at Ahmedabad(India) due to its discipline, environment, experiences and education standards.

Masters In Bharatnatyam

ConcertPaper, Folk Dance Drama

At first the initial plan was to go in second year. Plans changed when the syllabus arrived in Fedex from university with a whopping 22 dance items to take care of, showcase them, write 1 research paper each year, minimum of 2 assignments per year, minimum of 1 presentation per year, LIVE concert, nattuvangam, talam, ragam and Tamil History with all terms in Tamil. It was her husband Nagaraj who insisted that with this type of syllabus, she should take this as an opportunity and must go personally both the years, just like any student would do for each year in any other Masters Program.

Bharatnatyam, Master of Fine Arts

@Don Bosco School of Arts And Science canteen…break time between classes…fun food and lovely people.

The dance items and other master level dances required hours of practices and a mentor/guide to correct/remind as required because of complexity in choreography. They were in speed 2, 3 and 4 at a cutting edge but not a sweet cherry on the top, most in 3 and 4!

It isn’t for a regular bharatnatyam dancer who is barely trained and could still handle that type of work with that intense choreography.  Complexity with speed 3 and 4 was tough nut after a long time for Hetal Nagaraj.

She learned latest concepts in Bharatanatyam which she had never learned or were not taught in North India probably because back then these were taught @post-arangetram level only. Most of these concepts were added to standard margam by Kalakshetra Foundation founded by Rukmani Devi, Chennai and by renowned Bharatanatyam Artists in multiple styles.

Thus the degree curriculum included Main Margam Items, Non-Margam Items as well as Additional Creative Choreography from renowned artist of  Mysore Bani, Pandanallur Bani, Thanjavur Bani and Kalakshetra Bani margam as a compulsory LIVE concert-all of this with grading. While Vazhuvur Bani was one of the sub-topic for Mrs. Hetal Nagaraj as part of her research/dissertation. She took several skype/watsapp video classes from her guide Dr. Marie Stella who taught and corrected her for the possibilities in margam bharatnatyam dances with nattuvangam.

MargamPerformance w/Folk

Mrs.Hetal Joshi Nagaraj also took in-person classes with Dr. Marie Stella at Pondicherry where Dr. Marie Stella runs her own Dance Institute Kalai Aalayam Fine Arts Academy. Their group performed various items of margams, folk and solo bharatnatyam master works.

Her journey to full month stay at training and exam center for both the years were absolutely amazing! She stepped into this whole new world of Bharatnatyam with the infinite possibilities and complexities in southern India.

From what she thought would be questionable to do in various margam dances was NOW possible in unlimited combinations further. This experience opened a whole new creativity level in musicals, dance themes, concepts, usage of jatis and adavus in various permutations and combinations.

She implemented those concepts and was able to successfully use them not only in Bharatnatyam but in Indian Folk Dances and Bollywood/Tollywood/Indian Movie Dances of Grace And Grooves LLC giving exceptionally beautiful results with least amount of effort even for Bharatnatyam.

Masters in bharatnatyam

Thesis, Myselfie, concertpaper2

It took her 2 full years (2016 to 2018) for her to complete her degree in Masters In Fine Arts with whole family involved. This includes all our lovely students’ parents  of our private classes who walked with her in her journey very beautifully as she had to meet her deadlines of submissions or had her parallel skype classes.

With the type of knowledge that she gained in practical classes (skype/video watsapp/in person @Pondicherry) with her guide Dr. Marie Stella and during monthly in-house trainings, she thanks god that it did not happen in a click of button.

It would be too much for human brain to absorb all that, if it were to happen! She thanks her Tamil friends’ grand-parents (who were bharatnatyam dancers themselves) who helped her with very old tamil dialects for her theory papers that required compulsory usage of these words for grading. A lot of her regional tamil friends from chennai as well found it difficult to explain or understand these terms. All of that happened for Hetal Nagaraj for both the years back to back, one year at a time with proper planning.

Don’t even wish for a degree in 1 day with a click of a button. It is not going to help you! It is the training from all the right people that will never fail you and that you will not experiment on students because you have studied each scenario with pros and cons & thus it is available for you to use in your own creative way, very very safely!

Just that common sense is something that no university will ever teach you and to master that you will have to let go your ego ;). This is irrespective of your age!

Planning

80 Seperate School Lunches(2 kids), 40 dinners combined for 4 people, 40 lunches for huby/mil(combined 2 ppl), 25 breakfast(2 ppl), and extra 10 dishes here and there. There are similar bento boxes behind the line you see in the picture. 2017 too, similar preps and this year pretty much same plan but with MIL present, it was easier.

We strongly recommend all bharatnatyam dancers who are interested to go for this course provided you have the following :

  1. Zeal, patience, energy, money (investment in INR), and proper planning to do so.
  2. You should have done bharatnatyam up-to varnam level and above at some point in your life to be able to handle this type of work. Arangetram is irrelevant.
    • Style of bharatnatyam will not matter for this particular degree because their program itself includes multiple styles.
    • You must submit videos of any of these with other degrees that you have to become eligible for this program.
    • Private classes with your guide will be required to get your smoothly through this journey with deadlines, protocols to be followed and your guide will help you with the following as well :
      • if you have learned your bharatnatyam in non-traditional or conventional ways or you had several breaks through out your learning, or nattavangams, ragam, talam were not part of your training then you will have to educate yourself with these.
      • Nattuvangam, Recitation of Jatis and Adavus are graded.
      • In-person practicals, concerts participation is required. Must be ready to showcase all of above or as asked with full costume, makeup, hair-do; irrespective of any help available. Makeup artist may/may not be available.
  3. Expect morning 9am to 5pm dance routines and as you get closer to exams it will be 9am to 11pm practice hours. If you have any physical disability, come with doctor’s note or do not apply!
  4. List/selections of locations, accommodation to be take care by you while these will be required during your on campus trainings and all exams.
    • Paid meals 3 times a day at the campus canteen and everything is available around the area.
  5. Most important-you should be ready to go for a month (average of 20 days approx and add 2 more days to get the feel of area and shopping for your concert). Attendance is strictly required during all the days for the on-campus classes and exams. Best if you go both years. It will be worth a trip….
  6. Cons : Make sure you stay at the top of conversation with these people and get it all in writing, we had students who were marked absent even when they were present, we had students whose names and marks were printed wrong and lot of such issues.. Hetal managed to get out clean because she is from security background and so she has habit of keeping track of everything. Our owner is on the top of everything and that is how she is able to make a positive and inspiring difference in her students’ life.

Specifics are mentioned deliberately in detail as an effort to provide all the information that you may need as a student to apply! This blog post details were taken from articles submitted by Hetal Nagaraj to company.

Hetal Nagaraj says I did it and she will love to guide you to do it too! 

New Images Added : July 18, 2020.

Phone : 972 979 2559

Exclusive Copyrights by Reach Media for Hetal Joshi | Grace & Grooves | Grace Creations | Grace And Grooves 2012-2020.  This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. 

http://www.graceandgrooves.com        Phone : 972 979 2559       info@graceandgrooves.com

 

 

Why Grace And Grooves LLC discontinued Better Business Bureau of Dallas Fortworth.

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Why Grace And Grooves LLC discontinued Better Business Bureau of Dallas Fortworth : 

Loved, loved and loved the services and perks that we received from BBB, A Better Business Bureau. Past 2 years has been an amazing ride with them with all the wonderful services, workshops and knowledge that they offer for small businesses like Grace And Grooves LLC.

It is when you suddenly realize that you are the only Indian Company offering exclusive indian folk dance classes apart from bollywood and not mix it up anywhere around, and that you are the only one with absolutely transparent background in all the programs that you offer from Bharatnatyam and Bollywood as well, it is a feature on our hats to be connected with BBB, A better Business Bureau.

The only problem that we faced was as we moved further in journey with them, we asked our parents and staff members to write something about how they feel about us on our little place that we earned it from Better Business Bureau as we were with A+ accreditation with them.

It seems like social media such as google, waze, facebook, twitter and instagram took over all of this when it came to customer feeling more at comfort talking about it. Our customers share such a fun and healthy relationship with us that it was better and easier for them to just write reviews over social medias instead of BBB boards.

From ethical grounds, quality of work, affordable services, beautiful costumes, non-allergic jewelry, arangetram preps, continued education in classical dances for various degrees and providing services as promised in the related programs, everything just ended up in social medias, recommendations, emails and text/sms messages.

And thus, we had to let go the better business bureau accreditation at-least until we get students/parents/customers who would not mind spending some time logging to these BBB boards to see our exclusive little place on their website and write something about us-good or bad!

That being said, we still enjoy attending their programs as we come across and available. We miss that tiny little icon of better business bureau and we hope that in near future, we can do something more with them and use them further for our services and products.

Grace And Grooves LLC shared A+ accreditation amongst the BBB businesses from 2016 to May 2018.

But that taught us to give you all what we do best :).

Copyright Reach Media for Grace And Grooves | Grace Creations | 2012-2018. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Grace And Grooves Annual Updates By Hetal Nagaraj

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Grace And Grooves Annual Updates | Hetal Joshi M, Hetal Nagaraj.

For research students/art enthusiasts and for dance credit interns – Pls contact Ms. Hetal : Here OR here directly.

Grace And Grooves holds exclusive rights for all the content & pictures being posted with permission of organizers for exclusive Grace And Groove use only. Exclusive Copyrights by Reachh Mediaa from 2013 for Hetal Joshi | Grace & Grooves | Grace Creations | Grace And Grooves 2012-current

All Pictures posted here are with an exclusive consent of participating students, parents or school staffs. This material can not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Recital 2018 – A Fusion Life of American Born Cultured Indian/Desi (ABCD)

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fusionlife2018Recital 2018 concept and theme was decided in 2016 by Hetal Nagaraj.

The students in beginning of 2017 were actually taught dances like-wise throughout the year covering just the basics staying in their own category.

The whole idea got the shape in October 2017 when a rough playlist was made. A couple of these dances were also showcased in some of local talent competitions (September-October 2017), Diwali Mela(s)-(November 2017) at various places and other local festival stages. And a few of these had already won the awards too such as Pushpanjali, Madhurashtakam (Practice video-Selected for finals).

With all the influences of Non.Indian Culture in our Indian Dances, Dramas and thus our lives, we thought of showing how a life of our next generations that are brought up here. As it says, A=American, B=Born, C=Confused, D=Desis. But for our students of Grace And Grooves, C stands for CULTURED DESI, CLEAR FUNDAMENTALS, AND CRYSTAL CUT Diamond like TALENTS. Talents that can’t be beaten, Talents that can’t be judged with shallow mark-ups or untrained eyes and Talents that can’t be shadowed. 

Grace And Grooves is an Indian Dance School where students know difference between Bollywood And Indian Folk Dances, Bollywood And Bharatnatyam, Bharatnatyam and Indian Folk, Semi-Classical And Bharatnatyam too! 
So the recital program 2018 of Grace And Grooves had Pure Bharatnatyam that showcased the richness of Indian Classical Dances to Fun Indian Folk, Fusion Folk, Movie Types Semi-Classical Dances infused with & without Desi-HipHop to real semi-classical dances, Bollywood Modern-Contemporary Desi-HipHop Fusions and Folk And the dance dramas inspired from movies such as Bahubali, Veer Zaara & many more. 

Grace And Grooves successfully completed NAVARASA as per Natya Shashtra Guidelines in Bharatnatyam, Indian Folk Dances And Bollywood/Movie Dances in 2017-2018 year. All the dances are directed or choreographed exclusively by Hetal Nagaraj unless otherwise mentioned. Our Company Choreographers contributed with dances on Ramta Jogi by Mansi Chauhan and Ganesh Kavtuvam by Buvuneshwari Murugan.

We cannot forget Indian Movies that teaches us to dream big and live-happily ever after within our cultural boundaries—no matter where we go. Thus, our Special Feature of the evening & 90s Tribute was An Exclusive Tribute to Shahrukh Khan of Bollywood – SRK as we know him. It showcased non-stop 11 mins of SRK’s movie dances by around 20+ students and special appearances from Raghu K and Pavithra K. Videos will be shortly available.

Very first time in our recital, we had Guest Choreographers with Rang Barse-Holi Remix Tribute by Ritu Kharbanda and Bollywood Garba on Nagada Sang Dhol Baaje By Mishu Shashtri. Our Guest-Artist this time was a young artist – Arjun Iyer, Age 11 who played various notes starting from National Anthem of USA with music to notable Tamil Songs on Keyboard-Piano and Clarinet. Guest choreographer Ritu Kharbanda contributed with song of Om Shanti Om to our SRK non.stop dance extravaganza as her contribution to salute our King Khan with Harshita and Gargi.

All students, choreographers were acknowledged with participating medals and certificates during the show and later-during the classes. Below are the all the pictures, Enjoy And Don’t forget to sign up for our lessons : www.graceandgrooves.com

Phone : 972 979 2559

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/GraceAndGrooves

Twitter : https://twitter.com/GraceAndGrooves

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Bharatnatyam Pushpanjali. Concept, Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj. University Level Work.IMG_5966

Golden Era of Movies in various Languages : 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s From Semi-Classical Mujras To Desi Hip Hop Infused with various Indian Folk Dances.Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Recital 2018 Dance Dramas In Pure Bharatnatyam, Semi-Classical, Indian Folk And Bollywood/Movie Dances In Various Languages. Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Our tribute to Gujarati Sahitya @Recital 2018. Abhinaya covering Navarasa in Pure Bharatnatyam-Gujarati Dance Drama with Gujarati Classical Music. Concept, Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Recital 2018 Dances In Pure Bharatnatyam, Semi-Classical, Indian Folk And Bollywood/Movie Dances In Various Languages. Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Recital 2018 Dance Dramas In Pure Bharatnatyam, Semi-Classical, Indian Folk And Bollywood/Movie Dances In Various Languages. Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Golden Era of Movies in various Languages : 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s From Semi-Classical Mujras To Desi Hip Hop Infused with various Indian Folk Dances. Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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We did Bahubali 1 and won several competitions in Solos & Groups. How can we not do Bahubali 2. Concept,Choreography, Choreographer, Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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A Special Tribute of 90s & Later was for our SRK – Shah rukh Khan. A 11 Minute Non.Stop Dancing By Around 20 Dancers featuring his movie dances with our choreography n his famous dance moves. Choreography, Choreographer Hetal Nagaraj. Concept & Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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A Special Tribute of 90s & Later was for our SRK – ShahRukh Khan. A 11 Minute Non.Stop Dancing By Around 20 Dancers featuring his movie dances with our choreography n his famous dance moves. Choreography, Choreographer Hetal Nagaraj. Concept & Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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A Special Tribute of 90s & Later was for our SRK – Shahrukh Khan. A 11 Minute Non.Stop Dancing By Around 20 Dancers featuring his movie dances with our choreography n his famous dance moves. Choreography, Choreographer Hetal Nagaraj. Om Shanti Om Title Song By Ritu Kharbanda. Concept & Direction by Hetal Nagaraj.

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Our Company Choreographers for Ganesh Kavtuvam By Bhuvaneshwari Murugan and Ramta Jogi By Mansi.

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Special Thanks :

  • Mishu Shastri-Dance, Ritu Kharbanda-Dance for their wonderful participation in Recital 2018, A Fusion Life of ABCD.
  • Arjun Iyer for Instruments.(Pic Added Jan-2,2020)
  • Kedar Golvelkar For Music on Guitar (Ankhon Mein Teri),
  • Bhagwat Pandya For Sound Technician Services.
Call NOW : 972 979 2559.

Exclusive Copyrights by Reach Media for Hetal Joshi Nagaraj| Grace & Grooves | Grace Creations | Grace And Grooves | Nruthyakala Dance Academy | Mirchi Dance Academy | Kalasri Classical Dance Academy : 2012-2020.  

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.  

Post Updated : March 15 2018, Jan 2 2020.