In order to revive the disappearing aspects of Bharatanatyam, members of Nrithyodaya, a Mumbai-based dance school, are raising funds to the tune of Rs 25 lakh for a new dance academy being set up by Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee Dr Padma Subrahmanyam. Apart from members of the dance community, Mahindra Finance and Indian Oil have also volunteered to make donations.

Dr Jayashree Rajagopalan, founder-director of Nrithyodaya, said that since its inception in Mumbai 43 years ago, she has been teaching Bharata Nrithyam, the form of dance created by Dr Subrahmanyam, a dancer and research scholar. "After 20 years of research into the history of dance, Dr Subrahmanyam had codified the Karanas, which are in the Grantha script from the Chola period. She is the first to bridge the gap between theory and practice," she added.