Enter the Cornerstone Building this week and walk down the corridor on your left and you hear a beautiful Sanskrit Sloka, and if you peep in you see some young, enthusiastic dancer bringing the Sloka to life under a watchful Kathak Guru, Prashant Shah.

Or perhaps you would like to walk upstairs and see the incomparable Leela Samson putting her class of aspiring and upcoming Bharatnatyam dancers through their paces. And it could be a Tari – Ki – Ta – Thom or Tha – Thin – Kina – Thom in Room 108 under the gentle and firm guiding hand of Anjana Anand, teaching budding beginners the ABCs of Bharatnatyam.

Move down further and peep through the door and peep through the door, and see anger, wonder, laughter, sadness and any emotion you come to name being displayed on the faces of dancers, guided by their expert guru, Priyadarsini Govind, a doyenne of Abhinaya.

Maybe you would like to wander upstairs, and watch the breathtaking beauty of Odissi dance flowing from guru Sujata Mohapatra to her talented students. But wait, what is that thunderous stamping of feet, in complex and rhythmic patterns? It has to be the exciting Kathak class. And wait….it can’t be…yes!…it is Kumudiniji…indeed it is THE legendary Kumudini Lakhia, assisted by the wonderful Sanjukta Sinha.

All this talent knowledge, and all of this enthusiasm and eagerness under one roof? It has to be Dance India. Can’t wait for next year!

Dr Usha Muthu, Trustee, Milap Festival Trust