I've had many Bharatnatyam Gurus in my life, and Swathi is one of the nicest. She is patient, takes the time to explain the history and relevance of what we're doing, focuses on good posture, and instills the sentiment that learning is a journey and there shouldn't be a constant focus on perfection, as that takes away the joy of the journey. She talks about muscle memory, and how we need to let go of thinking "how" to dance, and rather just do it. This is hugely refreshing from the stringent, austere take some Gurus can have towards Bharatnatyam. I also like that the class is 2 hours long, so you get the time to warm up, practice Adavus and then move on to items. I sampled at least 10 classes in the area and chose this. The fruit of her labor is reflected in how beautiful the dancers in her class are.