A woman aims to popularise Indian classical dance by performing on a bed of 10,000 nails this weekend, a report said today.

S Mathevi, 25, was quoted by the national Bernama news agency as saying she would perform the traditional Bharatanathiyam dance to seven songs on a tiny platform measuring 2.4 metres by 0.6 metres in central Perak state.

The stunt on Saturday night will take Mathevi 35 minutes to complete, but she insisted that she was not afraid of getting injured.

"It was very painful when I started training a month ago but I am very determined to do this and I am going on a tough schedule to prepare myself for the event," she said.

"I want to do something more than just dancing. I know this is not an easy task but I hope this will further popularise Indian classical dance."

Mathevi started learning the dance when she was nine years old and is now a dance instructor.

She was trained by I Sebastiar, who himself created a local record two years ago by performing an Indian folk dance atop a seven-metre-high platform, Bernama said. - AFP