“Bharatanatyam is an art oceanic in width and depth. I have taken you a few steps on its shore. I hope the vision you have had of this ocean will inspire you to dive into it and cull its pearls yourself.”
— T. Balasaraswati

Aggie Brenneman

Aggie Brenneman has been teaching dance lessons in the SF Bay Area for over 30 years, after having lived in India, Nepal and Malaysia for nine years. She studied Bharatanatyam with the renowned Thanjavur Balasaraswati and her daughter, Lakshmi Knight, at the Center for World Music in Berkeley, the American Dance Festivals at Connecticut College and Duke University, and at their home in Chennai, India. She was awarded a grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities to research mythology and to study with Smt. Shyamala, a disciple of Balasaraswati in India. Aggie has performed in the US, India, Nepal and Malaysia. In early 2016 she assisted Aniruddha Knight, grandson of Balasaraswati, in teaching dance at his school in Chennai. Aggie was a classroom teacher at Park Day School in Oakland for 30 years where she began a Bharatanatyam program that has reached over 500 students of diverse backgrounds. She now serves as a docent at the SF Asian Art Museum. Through her involvement in Bharatanatyam, Aggie strives to preserve the ancient dance tradition of the South Indian Tanjore Court in the style of T. Balasaraswati.

 
Aggie Brenneman
Aggie Tillana

DEEPA PREETI
NATARAJAN

Deepa has been assisting Aggie in teaching the dance classes for eight years.  A graduate of Boston University, Deepa grew up in Ohio in a Tamilian family where she was trained in many dance forms throughout her education including ballet, modern, West African and many more, all but Bharatanatyam. She began studying Bharatanatyam with Aggie 9 years ago and has also studied with Smt. Shyamala in Chennai, India where her family is from.  In 2011 Deepa performed her Arangetram, the graduation performance of a solo dancer with a group of live musicians. Deepa loves teaching and has spearheaded a program for our youngest dancers that highlights the rich stories told in Bharatanatyam. Deepa loves plants and natural dyes and works for the UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley organizing educational programs. She is actively involved with the Sangati Center for South Asian Music, an organization founded by her Carnatic vocalist husband Gautam Tejas Ganeshan. 

 
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“It is difficult to explain the reason for the enchantment, but when Balasaraswati dances the dancer dissappears, and her entire personality merges into the dance... All magic, not a single moment without some delight.”
— The Statesman, Delhi, March 29, 1955
 
T. Balasaraswati

T. Balasaraswati

Tanjore Balasaraswati, also know as Balasarswati (May 13, 1918 - February 9,1984), was a celebrated Indian dancer, and her rendering of Bharatanatyam, a classical dance style originated in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, made this style of dancing well known in different parts of India and many parts of the world. 
She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1957 and the Padma Vibhushan in 1977, the third and second highest civilian honors given by the Government of India. In 1981 she was awarded theSangeetha Kalasikhamani award of The Indian Fine Arts Society, Chennai.
T. Balasaraswati
 
Inspirational Balasaraswati

early LIFE

Balasaraswati was a 7th generation representative of atraditional matrilineal family of temple musicians and dancers, who have been described as the greatest single repository of the traditional performing arts of music and dance of the southern region of India. Her ancestor Papammal was a musician and dancer patronized in the mid-18th century by the court of Thanjavur. Her grandmother Vina Dhanammal (1867-1938) is considered by many to be the most influential musician of the early 20th century. Her mother, Jayammal (1890-1967) was a singer who encouraged the training of Balasaraswati and was her accompanist.