For 5,000 years, temple dancers in India have told educational stories using a highly formalized choreography combining symbolic hand gestures, facial expressions, rhythmic footwork and sculpturesque body movements. Today this ancient art is preserved, performed and promoted here in Massachusetts at the Triveni School, established in 1971 by acclaimed dancer Neena Gulati, from New Delhi. The School trains over 400 dancers every week, ages five to 55, in classical dance. As they learn these graceful techniques, dancers prepare for their “arangetram,” or artistic debut, featuring a two-hour solo performance. The School ensemble gives hundreds of performances annually — including benefits for other charities—at multicultural events, schools, community centers and universities, where lectures are combined with demonstrations and workshops. Triveni has operated primarily with funds raised through tuition and modest performance fees, while private donations fund scholarships for students and help dancers cover costs of their arangetrams. 2005-06 will be Triveni’s 35th year in Massachusetts, and now you can thank them for enriching our quality of life, especially for the Indian communities that are so important to our new economy.