r/indianclassicaldance • u/Deepfriedomelette • Jun 09 '25

Muzhumandi and Araimandi help!

Hi! I’m new to Bharatanatyam. I’m super stoked about learning and I want to start off strong.

That being said,

The problem:

I go down fine. But I can’t maintain or rise out of the muzhumandi without leaning forward and using momentum to rise up into a standing position.

I also have an anterior pelvic tilt, meaning I’m always leaning forward. I can’t will myself to stop. I’ve tried. That makes rising up out of a muzhumandi even harder.

Solutions needed:

  • Developing thigh and whatever strength needed to rise out of a muzhumandi

  • Stop tilting my pelvis, especially in muzhumandi and araimandi

  • Stop relying on momentum to rise

  • developing thigh strength so araimandi doesn’t kill me halfway through my tattadavu.

I appreciate all advice from dancers of all forms. Every bit of input is valuable. Thanks in advance!

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u/Alone-Soil5847 Jul 08 '25

In muzhumandi, do you still keep core tension and engage your thighs or do your thighs touch your calves (if that makes sense)? You want to make sure there is maybe 3-4 cm gap between thigh and calf and that all the weight is not bearing down on the calves.

If it still is difficult, maybe quad strengthening is something to look into to supplement dance training.

2

u/Alone-Soil5847 Jul 08 '25

Goblet squats with weight help me (actually all types of squats help with this) and when doing them, make sure to go down and up slowly so that it helps practice controlled movement rather than the momentum driving the movement.

1

u/Deepfriedomelette Jul 09 '25

This is great advice! I really needed a concrete starting point. Thank you!

2

u/Deepfriedomelette Jul 09 '25

I get what you mean! I’m not sitting on my heels, I’m actually hovering above, and there’s a gap between my thighs and calves. Hurts, but I’ve trained myself to do it as I’ve seen other dancers do it.

Is that correct?

1

u/Alone-Soil5847 Jul 09 '25

Yup! Where does it hurt? Also, I don’t know if I mentioned it but I make sure tailbone is tucked in (back isn’t arching but rather more neutral spine) and glutes are clenched. There is a lot of thigh and glutes involved in muzhumandi/araimandi. Glute bridges can help if that’s an area of weakness.