We had a great time with Kylie Madhav at the session "A love letter to Tamil" at the Y. She talked about the history of the language, its evolution, and how it is spoken in various parts of the world. Participants had question about the history of the language in Sri Lanka, Tamil as a living spoken language, and the syllables used in Tamil. She talked about the South Indian states and each of the languages spoken in them. 
Below are some images and a short video: 

In May of 2025, as part of The Memory Tree, we were funded by the "I'm Still Here Foundation" for a project for seniors experiencing early-stage Alzheimer’s disease who live in Naturally Occurring Retirement Communities (NORCs) in New York City. This program was the first to systematically use Bharatanatyam in those with dementia. I worked with art therapist Mary Safai to present 8 sessions, at the end of which, we had a party! Flyers for the program and party below; also included is an image from the party (PC: Elizabeth Fine). 

It is difficult to enumerate, let alone comprehend all the learnings that gurus impart to their students. It has been the privilege of my life to resume my Bharatanatyam studies with Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan ("Amma") and Smt. Vanitha Jayan ("Didi") in Ahmedabad. In the last post, I suggested that traditional art forms like Bharatanatyam may help guide arts-in-health initiatives. In this post, I list some of the teachings of Amma and Didi that directly impact health.

In addition to breathing exercises, routines to strengthen toes, and wearing a dance sari during practice, Amma emphasizes that we pay keen attention to, and have an interest in, music, literature, poetry, fabric, embroidery, and the technical aspects of a show, such as lighting, shadows, and sound. Amma and Didi also talk about the inner life of an artist; by not comparing oneself to others, and by finding something to appreciate in everyone, they counsel how our inner lives can impact our dance practice. 

As arts-in-health researchers shape the field, we should seek advice from traditional art forms and their practitioners. What might such a collaboration look like? How can we collaborate with our elders in ways that are  respectful and non-extractive? 

PC: Warut Snidvongs at City College Center for the Arts 

PC: Libby Lussenhop at City College Center for the Arts 
Gratitude to Guru Nivedita ShivRaj for teaching me this song 

Over the past year, I've been delighted to teach marine biology as part of the Seminars on Science courses at The American Museum of Natural History. We begin by studying properties of the ocean water including variation in temperature, salinity, and pressure; and move on to explore adaptations of marine creatures to different environments such as tidal pools, estuaries, and mangrove. We discuss ecosystems of the ocean e.g. coral reefs, seagrass beds, kelp forests, and the deep sea. 

The purpose of this knowledge, of studying diverse creatures like the anglerfish to larvaceans, is to inform marine conservation. On this topic, one thing I have been very excited about is the use of traditional and indigenous knowledge to protect our oceans. By centering knowledge of communities that have lived and worked alongside the oceans, Western science can gain considerable insights into preserving the oceans that sustain us. 
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I wonder if a similar approach could be used to guide arts-in-health initiatives as well, and what that might look like. In the next post, I will describe some learnings from my journey with Bharatanatyam over the last several decades under the guidance of my gurus Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan ("Amma") and Smt. Vanitha Jayan ("Didi"). 

My gurus Smt. Maheshwari Nagarajan and Smt. Vanitha Jayan of Nritya Kala Kendra, Ahmedabad emphasize that the study of Bharatanatyam includes the study of languages. My gurus teach me the literal and derived meaning of words and phrases, and pronunciation of words so that we can bring additional depth to our dance. 

On January 18, 2026, linguist Kylie Madhav will join us at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood for a talk on Tamil as a living language. Kylie will talk about the origin and linguistic context of Tamil, share a map of the Tamil-speaking world and works from the Sangam era, and talk about the evolution of modern Tamil!

Kylie is fluent in French, English, Spanish, and Haitian Kreyòl and enjoys delving into the extensive literary canon of her fifth language: Tamil. ​

Above: Kylie Madhav (Image credit: Libby Lussenhop)