Teaching

Chandrika (Clara) Chinoy has been teaching Bharatanatyam in Spain for almost 30 years, independently and through many centers and schools, including the Geeta Ashram (first Hindu temple in Madrid), and various schools of Middle Eastern dance.  As the Bharatanatyam professor for the Escuela Nataraya, she trained students for examinations from Prayag Sangeet Samiti through Allahabad University.  She has also been a pioneer in bringing wonderful Bharatanatyam dancers and teachers to Madrid, such as Rama Vaidyanathan, Gayatri Sreeram, Renjith Choorakkad and Vijna Vasudevan, Sophia Salingaros, Kassiyet Akhilkhankazy, Lucrezia Maniscotti, Radhika Shetty, and others.

Always restless, Chandrika has continued to deepen her knowledge of the world of Bharatanatyam through classes in abhinaya with Indira Kadambi and Lucrezia Maniscotti, and in Carnatic music with Sitaram Sharma, M.S. Parur Ananthashree, and currently with Voxguru online classes

Chandrika brings to her teaching not only her many years of study of Bharatanatyam, but degrees in both Anthropology (B.A. Harvard University, where her honors thesis , Magna cum Laude, was an analysis of the theatrical elements of Sri Lankan Thovil rituals) and dance (M.F.A. New York Universty Tisch School of the Arts).  She has studied dance history, anatomy, acting, and music theory. 

Trained in a wide variety of dance styles, with basic knowledge of historical dance, African dance, tap and Middle Eastern dance,  and a teacher of both contemporary dance and classical ballet, she also has years of experience as a professional flamenco dancer in Spain, under the professional name of Clara Mora.  Drawing on her training in Anthropology and the idea that traditional dance forms must be studied in the social and historical context in which they were born, she also teaches academic courses on the social history of flamenco at the Universidad de Sevilla, and her approach to the teaching of Bharatanatyam uses the same approach.