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Araimandi,
Basic standing position
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Bharatnatyam
Dance
Bharatnatyam
Dance is considered to be over
2000 years old. Several texts
beginning with Bharata Muni's
Natya Shastra (200 B.C.E. to
200 C.E.) provide information
on this dance form. The Abhinaya
Darpana by Nandikesvara is
one of the main sources of textual
material, for the study of the
technique and grammar of body
movement in Bharatnatyam Dance.
There is also a great deal of
visual evidence of this dance
form in paintings and stone and
metal sculptures of ancient times.
On the gopurams of the Chidambaram
temple, one can see a series
of Bharatnatyam poses, frozen
in stone as it were, by the sculptor.
In many other temples, the charis and karanas of
the dance are represented in
sculpture and one can make a
study of the dance form. |
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Adavu,
Basic dance unit |
Bharatnatyam
dance is known to be ekaharya,
where one dancer takes
on many roles in a single
performance. In the early
19th century, the famous
Tanjore Quartette, under
the patronage of Raja Serfoji
are said to have been responsible
for the repertoire of Bharatnatyam
dance as we see it today.
The style was kept alive by the devadasis, who
were young girls 'gifted' by their parents to the temples and who were
married to the gods. The devadasis performed
music and dance as offerings to the deities, in the temple courtyards.
Some of the renowned performers and gurus of the early part of the century
belong to the devadasi families, a well-known
name is Bala Saraswati. |
Adavu,
Basic dance unit |
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The
repertoire of Bharatnatyam is extensive,
however, a performance follows
a regular pattern. At first there
is an invocation song. The first
dance item is
the alarippu, literally meaning - to adorn with flowers.
It is an abstract piece combining pure dance with the recitation of sound syllables. |
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The
next item, the jatiswaram is
a short pure dance piece performed
to the accompaniment of musical
notes of any raga of Carnatic
music. Jatiswaram has no sahitya or words, but is composed of
adavus which are pure dance
sequences - nritta. They form
the basis of training in Bharatnatyam
dance.
As a solo dance, Bharatnatyam leans heavily on the abhinaya or
mime aspect of dance - the nritya, where
the dancer expresses the sahitya through movement and mime. Shabdam follows
the jatiswaram in a Bharatnatyam dance performance. The accompanying
song is generally in adoration of the Supreme Being.
After the shabdam, the dancer performs
the varnam. The varnam which
is the most important composition of the Bharatnatyam repertoire,
encompasses both nritta and nritya and
epitomises the essence of this classical dance form. The dancer here
performs complicated well graded rhythmic patterns in two speeds
showing the control over rhythm, and then
goes on to depict in a variety of ways, through abhinaya the
lines of the sahitya. This portrays the
dancer's excellence in abhinaya and also reflects the endless creativity
of the choreographer.
The varnam is
by far one of the most beautiful
compositions in Indian dance.
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After
the strenuous varnam,
the dancer performs a number
of abhinaya items
expressing a variety of moods.
The bhava or
rasa is woven into the sahitya and
then expressed by the dancer.
The common pieces are keertanam, kritis, padams and javalis.
In the keertanam,
the text is important whereas kriti is
a composition in which the musical
aspect is highlighted. Both are
usually devotional in character
and represent episodes from the
lives of Rama, Siva, Vishnu,
etc. Padams and javalis,
are on the theme of love, often
divine.
A Bharatnatyam performance ends with a tillana which
has its origin in the tarana of Hindustani
music. It is a vibrant dance performed to the accompaniment of musical
syllables with a few lines of sahitya. The
finale of the piece is a series of well designed rhythmic lines reaching
a climax. The performance ends with a mangalam invoking
the blessings of the Gods.
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accompanying orchestra consists
of a vocalist, a mridangam player,
violinist or veena player, a flautist
and a cymbal player. The person
who conducts the dance recitation
is the Nattuvanar.
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Under
the aegis of Ministry
of Culture,
Government of India
15-A, Sector - 7, Dwarka, New Delhi - 110075
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Centre for Cultural Resources and Training
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