Bharatanatyam - a classical dance

Hi All,

Iam Ramya from chennai..Iam a classical dancer and want to know anyone available in this field....i would like to discuss about - performance after wedding....will i be able to get good natvanars for my performance and practice? i've 14years of experience in this field so i expect a dancer who has more experience than me.

Thank you
Ramya Srivatsan

Bharatanatyam - a classical dance

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Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form of South India, said to be originated in Thanjavoor of Tamil Nadu. It was known as "Daasiyattam" since performed by Devadasies in temples of Tamil Nadu long ago.
The name 'Bharatanatyam' is derived from three basic concepts of Bhava, Raga and Thaala. The modern Bharatanatyam was systematically regularized by well known 'Thanjavoor Brothers', Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Sivanandam and Vativelu.

The dance is performed in the stage as Nritham, Nrithyam and Natyam. Bharatanatyam is based on the theories of the books 'Natyasaasthram' and 'Abhinaya Darpanam'.

The dance form is based on 'Adavu' (steps) and 'Hasthamudra' (hand gestures). There are 64 basic 'Adavu' and they are divided into 9 parts, on which 'Thattadavu', 'Naatadavu', 'Kuthithumettadavu', 'Mandiadavu', 'Sarikkal' and 'Thattumettu' are very important. Communication is done through 'bhavabhinaya' (facial expression) and 'hasthamudra' (hand gestures). The performance starts with the prayers to God Ganapathi and worship of Nataraja Moorthi.

The sequence of the dance performance is 'Alarippu', 'Jathiswaram', 'Sabdam', 'Varnam', 'Padam' and 'Thillana'. After 'Thillana', with a 'Mangala Slokam' the dance program ends. Normally the performance lasts for two to two and half hours.

The costume is paijama and jacket of Kanchipuram silk and Banaras silk. The dancer wears a lot of ornaments of shining stones on neck, ears, hands, and head, jasmin garland in the hair and foot trinklet with small bells.

The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Carnatic classical music. The instruments used are Veena, Flute, Mridangam and Violin. The dance direction is done by 'Nattuvanar' giving the Thaalam using hand symbols and singing 'Vaaythari'. There will be two singers also.

Some of the famous Bharatanatyam performers are Bala Saraswathi, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rugmini Arundel, Kamala Laxman, Padma Subrahmaniam and Chithra Visweswaran. Panthanalloor Meenakshi Sundaram Pilla, Panthanalloor Chokkalingam Pilla, Padmasree Vazhoor Ramayyan Pilla and Adayar Laxman are some of the famous 'Nattuvar'

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Thanks Padma, your writeup gives a fair summary of Bharatanatyam. I thought of continuing this thread and therefore will try to explain certain terminology's used in the above article. Today I shall talk about the term Nritta, Nrittya and Natya .For quick recall, we can refer to them as the 3N s of the dance form. What does each of them represent?

Nritta is pure dance or sequences of dance that are non interpretative in nature. This means that these steps, movements or gestures are not meant to convey any message or thought. They are primarily meant to add beauty to the dance form. Adavus (mentioned in the article above) form the basic component of Nritta.

Nrittya on the other hand is an interpretative dance and involves a lot of sentiments, emotions and description. The gestures in this stream convey messages like depicting a king, indicating that it is morning time etc.

Natya is Dance Drama and its main component is Abhinaya (Gestures). It is an inseparable part of Natya. The other components of Natya are namely - Nrittya, Bhava (phycological state of mind), Rasa ( sentiment), Geeta (song),Tala (Rhythm). It involves acting out a story for the audience using all the above elements. For eg. This would involve enacting parts of Ramayana or Mahabharata. It may also involve dressing up like a particular character maybe krishna or Shiva or Durga.

Ok, Thats all for today. I would request all the readers and other dancers to please contribute and help carry forward this thread.

Anjali

Anjali,

thanks for your explaination. I did not know much about the Bharatanatyam. I collected information from my sister"s daughter who is basically kuchupidi dancer.
I hope to read some details from you and i believe that you are bharatanatyam dancer..

with my regards

padma

hi

reading this remind me when i was learning bharatanatyam in india when i was small kid....i learned for one year..... great time.

take care

Hi friends. Padma has mentioned about the two book called the Natyashastra and AbhinayaDarpan. Indeed they are basic manual for any Classical Dance. I will give a gist of what they are.

The Indian dramatic art is called Natya. Shastra means an holy writ to a particular field of knowledge. Thus a Natyashastra is a compilation of various sages but offer its authorship to Bharata. Its widely known as Bharatamuni's Natyashastra.Its date is not definitely known. It is taken as 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. I guess it must have reached its present form sometime during this period. Bharata's Natyashastra is a composite manual for performing art form of theatre which combines not only the arts of dance, drama and music but also literature, painting and sculpture.

Abhinayadarpan as its name suggests is called the "Mirror of Expression". This was written by Nandikeswara in sanskrit somewhere in 5th to 13th centuary. This talks about of gestures in Dance. There are all written in the form of sanskrit shlokas. The topic of Abhinaya is covered here. A lot of translation and interpretations are now available in the market.

Thanks a lot
Anjali
Bharatanatyam Basics @ http://onlinebharatanatyam.com

Indian Dance: The Natya Shastra
The Nayta Shastra is the principal work of dramatic theory in the Sanskrit drama of classical India. It was written by the sage Bharata Muni. It is a set of precepts on the writing and performance of dance, music and theatre.
Elements of Indian Dance
Abhinaya is common to all Classical Indian dances. Abhinaya is the expressional aspect of dance, or nritya .
Abhinaya in the Natya Shastra has been classified into four types:
1 · Angika - or physical, using movements of every part of the body to convey meaning, with hastamudras (hand gestures), mandis (postures) and even the walk of the dancer.
2 · Vachikabhinaya - or vocal/verbal, used formally today by members of the orchestra or supporting, non-dancing cast.
·3 Aharyabhinaya - or external, expression, mood and background as conveyed by costume, make-up, accessories and sets.
4 · Satvikabhinaya - or psychological, shown by the eyes in particular and as a whole by the entire being of the performer, who feels the mood, the character and the emotion as emanating from the self, not as an act or practical presentation.
The Navrasas
In addition, the navarasas, or nine emotions, give all dance a completeness that allows the dancer and the rasikas (audience) to experience the full beauty and meaning of the lyrics and the movements they are portrayed by. These emotions are expressed in the eyes, the face, subtle muscle shifts and the body as a whole. They are:
hasya (happiness),
krodha (anger),
bhibasta (disgust),
bhayanaka (fear),
shoka (sorrow),
veera (courage),
karuna (compassion),
adbhuta (wonder) and
shanta (serenity).

Originally Posted by padmaiyangar

Indian Dance: The Natya Shastra
The Nayta Shastra is the principal work of dramatic theory in the Sanskrit drama of classical India. It was written by the sage Bharata Muni. It is a set of precepts on the writing and performance of dance, music and theatre.
Elements of Indian Dance
Abhinaya is common to all Classical Indian dances. Abhinaya is the expressional aspect of dance, or nritya .
Abhinaya in the Natya Shastra has been classified into four types:
1 · Angika - or physical, using movements of every part of the body to convey meaning, with hastamudras (hand gestures), mandis (postures) and even the walk of the dancer.
2 · Vachikabhinaya - or vocal/verbal, used formally today by members of the orchestra or supporting, non-dancing cast.
·3 Aharyabhinaya - or external, expression, mood and background as conveyed by costume, make-up, accessories and sets.
4 · Satvikabhinaya - or psychological, shown by the eyes in particular and as a whole by the entire being of the performer, who feels the mood, the character and the emotion as emanating from the self, not as an act or practical presentation.
The Navrasas
In addition, the navarasas, or nine emotions, give all dance a completeness that allows the dancer and the rasikas (audience) to experience the full beauty and meaning of the lyrics and the movements they are portrayed by. These emotions are expressed in the eyes, the face, subtle muscle shifts and the body as a whole. They are:
hasya (happiness),
krodha (anger),
bhibasta (disgust),
bhayanaka (fear),
shoka (sorrow),
veera (courage),
karuna (compassion),
adbhuta (wonder) and
shanta (serenity).

hai
Tanjorebrothers formed the basic structure and gave a form to the bharatha natyam.over a stage it lost its glory with the abolition of devadasis system .THANKS to great smt rukumini arundale who
gave a definite decipline to the great art form.Different styles
were evolved as many scholars migrated to different parts of the
country.every expert in kathakali and bhartha natyam was brought
under one roof thus born great kalakshetra.
You can attain immortality through this greatform as you perform
innumerable compositions of great saints . YES it is a great form of
yoga if you do it with dedication.
I have personally experianced the joy which i cannot put in words.
every body can experiance the same joy if one can get to watch
Dr padmasubramanyam s bhagvadgeetha
subbi

HI

Can you help me where should I get a video with the composition of Thillana.
I am a bharatnatyam dancer....

Hi. Is anyone a Bharatanatyam teacher here?