BHARATANATYAM

This is one of the famous and most popular dance forms practiced throughout the Indian subcontinent. It originates from the culture of the South Indian state- Tamil Nadu and parts of Karnataka. In medieval India, Bharatanatyam was a form court dance which was performed by devadasis only in Kings’ concert. Devadasis, better known as temple-maidens, were the only persons who were allowed to practice Bharatanatyam. They used to lead a very simple life and were not allowed to mingle in the society like common people. But after the post independent period of British India, the dance has been taken out into prominence by the famous Tanjavoore quartet and by noble efforts Mrs. Rukmini Devi Arundale. There are about 6 different styles of practicing Bharatanatyam that dates back to old times- Tanjavoore; Pandanalloor; Kalakshetra; Vazvoor, Melattur and Mysore-kanchipooram.

It has grown to hold a prominent place in Indian culture today. Bharatanatyam is often referred as a science in itself. The name is synonymous to a display of visual geometry. This is because the dancer fabricates a series of body movements, which are geometrical designs conceived in space, outlining straight lines, diagonals, circles, triangles, squares and other geometric body patterns.

Bharatantyam paved a path (called margam) consisting of 10 must-do dance items to be learnt during courtship. The level of difficulty of these items increases along with the advancement of margam. The items are: shloka, pushpanjali, allarippu, jathiswaram, shabdam, varnam, padam, kautuvam, thodium and thillana. The structure of Bharatanatyam is twofold: nritta and nritya. Nritta signifies specific dance steps and movements where the dancer creates formations that showcase the architectonic splendour of art form. These are abstract progressions, which do not convey any particular meaning but finds the dancer creating complex patterns. Units of nritta are called jathis. Some pure nritta pieces, which find a place in a recital, are allarippu, jathiswaram and thillana. Through nritya (expressions and gestures), a dancer crafts poetry conveying facial expressions while the body reacts to the emotions. This evokes sentiments amongst spectators.

Almost every nritya piece has a direct link to lyrics of the song, which is usually sung in a live concert. Some nritta pieces which are interwoven with nritya are shabdam, varnam (a combination of expressions along with pure dance); padam, javali, thodium, keerthanams and shlokas. Nritta sequences are set into specific patterns, which cannot be changed during a recital, while nritya segment provides a lot of scope for on-spot improvisation. This is because; the story which the dancer enacts through dance is presented in sancharis (segments), in which each line of the story can be interpreted in numerous ways and could be repeated a number of times. This paves way for the danseuse to go extemporaneous.

The music system that this art form follows is Carnatic/ South Indian classical music. The basic rhythm beats are of 5 types: tisra (3 beats- taa kii taa); chatusra (4 beats- taa kaa dhi mi); khandam (5 beats- taa kaa, taa kii taa); mishra (7 betas- taa kii taa, taa kaa dhi mi) and shankirnam (9 beats- taa kaa dhi mi, taa kaa, taa kii taa). The accompanying instruments are mridangam (2 sided drum), violin, flute, sitar and veena (a string instrument similar to sitar). In a live concert, there must be a nattuvangam who plays the thalam (cymbals) to hold the rhythm of the dancer.