In Potomac, Maryland, Deepti Mukund Navile runs a dance school out of her basement.

She teaches Bharatanatyam, one of 9 classical dance styles recognized by India's Ministry of Culture.

♪ It's a tradition almost 2,000 years old and one that student Neharika Govindarajan is bringing to life.

This is the final rehearsal before a big performance.

♪ Tomorrow, I'm gonna be doing a show of 8 different pieces.

I'm going to be presenting about 2 1/2, 3 hours of dances on different gods and telling different stories.

In January, if you told me this would be happening now, I would have laughed at you.

Curry: Neharika, Neha for short, will be performing her solo debut, called Rangapravesha.

This performance demonstrates that the student has mastered the art form enough to perform on their own and teach aspiring dancers.

Navile: It's a tremendous amount of work.

It's a tremendous amount of practice.

It takes a lot out of you.

I feel that every child has to bring out something from themselves, so I'm like, "This is what I taught you.

Now I want to see what Neha is going to do for you."

Curry: Neha's mother Padma Venkataraman came to the United States from Mumbai, where Bharatanatyam was an extracurricular activity at school.

Venkataraman: I love dancing.

Unfortunately, the way the study and the curriculum goes in India, if you don't start at a certain time point, you don't get to finish the whole thing.

I fell in that block, so I just wanted for my daughter to have the whole breadth of experience.

When I was 4 years old, my mom showed me a picture of Deepti Auntie, and I was like, "Oh, my God, she's so pretty, I want to learn from her."

[Woman speaking Hindi] ♪ Curry: Navile's own Rangapravesha took place in India.

My mom always wanted to learn Bharatanatyam.

Learning dance at her time was a very expensive proposition, so she couldn't learn to dance.

I was 6 years old when my mother took me to Bharatanatyam class.

Dr. Lalitha Srinivasan, she would do only one Rangapravesha a year, so I had to wait my turn.

I absolutely loved all the work that went into that, and I carry all that I was taught forward to my students.

Curry: The choreography is only part of the Bharatanatyam performance.

Neha's parents have hired professional classical Indian dancer Kasi Aysola to do Neha's makeup and hair.

The headdress is done with the South Indian style of thala saman, which is, like, a very ornate type of jewelry they wear on their hair.

Also, they wear a long braid, which is iconic of the aesthetics that are coveted in India.

They have long, drawn eyebrows and eyes in order to project their expressions when you're seeing it from the back of the audience.

Curry: And there is audience.

There are over 4.5 million people of Indian ancestry in the United States, almost 200,000 of whom live in the Washington, D.C., area.

Aysola: The community here is a very dense, also diverse, and welcoming one, so it's unique, I think, to have this level of constant performances, productions, collaborations within the Indian dance community.

Curry: Bharatanatyam dancing expresses Hindu religious themes and spiritual ideas.

We just heard stories about mythology, and we just accepted it and moved on.

When you learn through a dance, you're learning the core meaning.

With Neha, I see her challenge why everything has to be this way, but I also see her willingness to accept what message is conveyed through that medium.

♪ Govindarajan: Sometimes when we dance, we dance to real prayers, and I've actually learned a few prayers, so when I go to temple sometimes, I recite those prayers, and it makes me feel closer to my culture living in America.

Curry: Navile came to the United States in 1992 to work in computer science.

Navile: I started working in NASA, where everybody of every race.

I walk around the corner, some people are talking in Greek.

Another corner, people are talking in Korean, so I never felt othered at that time.

I only started noticing the othering when my child started going to school.

From '94 to 2000, I did the job, and I also ran the dance school.

By 2000, I was like, "I'm only doing my dance."

I am as American as another person, but also I have a culture that I want to share.

I want my students to be able to be proud of who they are as Americans, and proud of who they are as Indian Americans.

Govindarajan: There are a lot of people coming to watch me.

This is a lot of pressure.

I'm representing my culture, I'm representing what I've learned, but also it's fun, so there's really no point in getting stressed because if I do get stressed, I'm not gonna have fun.

I'm stressed.

Don't be stressed.

It's gonna be good, OK?

Sit.

Curry: At the Jewish Community Center in Rockville, Maryland, there are just hours left to prepare the venue.

It's a family event.

It's a community event, and everybody puts in whatever they can.

Aysola: Keep your head this way.

Right after that, I go into the Takadimi.

OK. ♪ Day-day day-did-a day ♪ [Sings in Hindi] Both: ♪ Ta-ki-da ta-ka ta-ki-da ♪ ♪ Ta-ka ta-ki-da ♪ ♪ Day-did-a-day, day-did-a-day ♪ ♪ Day-did-a-day, day-did-a-day ♪ Don't rush.

It's gonna be my fault that I didn't enter the stage.

Why are you so worried about faults and blames and perfection?

It's a performance.

You just have to perform.

Curry: It's a performance that will stream live to relatives as far as Australia, Canada, and India.

She will begin with a traditional offering of flowers to the god of dance Lord Nataraja, who we believe is the cosmic dancer who harmoniously balances life and death on Earth, and then she will begin with an ode to the Mother Goddess.

[Man singing in Hindi] ♪ The centerpiece is about Saint-Poet Andal.

♪ The penultimate piece is this dance where she is the young woman who is going to meet her lover.

♪ Usually, I don't teach it to the younger ones, but I knew she could handle it.

♪ All Bharatanatyam programs end with a Thillana, which is, like, a fast-paced music with lovely rhythm patterns.

♪ We end any performance just like we begin any performance-- with the peace offerings.

♪ [Applause] Venkataraman: She's understood what she's doing, so I'm very proud and I'm very happy.

Navile: It's a whole "mind, body, soul" thing, and I'm glad-- heh, I'm tearing up-- so I'm glad some of it transferred.

I know every time I'm tired, I look to my teacher, and she is still doing it, so she's my inspiration.

Aysola: So many of these young dancers, they do their debuts, and they don't ever dance again.

I hope they all keep dancing after their first solos.

Govindarajan: I honestly can't imagine my life without it.

I just feel really happy that I get this opportunity.

Curry: If you want to learn more about classical Indian dance in the D.C. area, check out the Indian Dance Educators Association at ideadancers.org.

There, you can find teachers across the DMV and check out upcoming events.

You can learn more about Deepti Mukund Navile and her school at dance-dc.com.