With nearly 40 years of learning Bharatanatyam from eminent Gurus, the need for introspection and reflection is inevitable and much needed. I have spent hours and still continue to spend a lot of time introspecting. This in itself is very gratifying but, what do we need to reflect upon anyway? What does this reflection mean?

With the blessings of my Gurus and Lord Almighty, I was able to launch “Darpana Reflector Series”. This creative offshoot of Nritya Laya Darpan provides a platform and a forum for all Bharatanatyam students and aspirants, to reflect upon some valuable areas of the art form. DRS hopes to achieve this through workshops and lecture demonstrations on focal points to be conducted by esteemed musicians and artists from our culturally rich Bay Area and visiting artistes from India through the wing called "Kala Vriddhi". This series will primarily focus upon various elements that relate to and benefit in growing from a dancer to an artiste (staying focused and grounded), and ultimately achieving pure joy and peace to the soul within. Not only that, this offshoot also provides a performance platform through the wing - "Kala Pradarshini" for aspiring and passionate students of Bharatanatyam or any other classical art form.

Since its inception on the 3rd March 2020, we have hosted several workshops both on virtual medium and in-person curated under the wing of Kala Vriddhi. We are looking forward to bringing several more topic based workshops and not only kindle awareness in the vast array of topics within “Natya Shastra” but also allows us to give back to the artist community in India by donating funds to those who want to pursue dance full time or don’t have the means to fulfill the aspects of learning. Through the performing platform - Kala Pradarshini, we have been able to bring esteemed artists to give us a glimpse into their work in an intimate setting while also provide a platform to deserving performers who are passionate about their art and thrive to pursue it as a mainstream profession.
Here are some of the workshops that we have conducted through the DRS platform since 2020:                                                                                                                                            
1. Ms. Poorva Saraswat - Aaharya Darpana - Ornamentation & Beyond
2. Sri. Vaibhav Arekar - Abhang - Very First In Person workshop held in Bay Area, CA     
3. Sri. Praveen Kumar - Aangika Darpana - Reflecting Upon Emotions Through The Body
4. Sri. Gautam Marathe - Aangika Darpana, Postponed due to unavoidable circumstances
5. Sri. Parshwanath Upadhye - Paathra Darpana, held in March, 2022
6. Smt. Ragini Chandersekhar - Bhakti Darpana, held in October, 2021
7. Smt. Vidhya Subramanian - Lasya Darpana, held in June, 2021
8. Smt. Karuna Sagari V - Bhaava Darpanaa, held in February 2021
9. Sri. Pavitra Krishna Bhat - Anga Darpanaa, held in December 2020
10. Dr. Sridhar Vasudevan - Tattva Darpanaa, held in August 2020
11. Sri. Vaibhav Arekar - Taala Darpanaa, held in May 2020