Bharatanatyam: The origins
BhBharatanatyam, in Balasaraswati's words, is an artistic yoga for revealing the spiritual through the corporeal. It is the most popular Indian classical dance in South India, and the most ancient of all the classical dance forms. The term "Bharatanatyam" was used by Purandara Dasa (1484-1564). Later, Ghanam Krishnayyar's songs speak about a devadasi as an expert at Bharatanatyam. Subramania Bharathi also mentions Bharatanatyam. Some believe the term "Bharatanatyam" partly owes its name to sage Bharata who wrote the fundamental text on the technique of Natya, classical Indian dance theatre, traces of which persist in Bharata natyam, Odissi, Mohiniattam and Kuchipudi, and, so some extent, Kathak. In Tamil Nadu, Natya was called Koothu, Aadal, Nrittam, Layam, Nartanam, Natam and by other names.
According to Natya Shastra, Brahma created the Panchamaveda, the Fifth Veda (NatyaVeda), a quintessence of the main four Vedas, and gave it to Indra to have the gods (devas) to perform natya, but Indra stated, "They are neither able to receive it and to maintain it, nor they are fit to understand it and make use of it... The sages who know the mystery of the 4 Vedas and have fulfilled their vows are capable of maintaining NatyaVeda and putting it into practice". Obeying the fiat of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote down Natyashastra. Bharata together with his 100 disciples and the Gandharavas with Apsaras performed natya, nrtta and nrtya before Siva.
Shiva improved and modified Bharata's interpretation and instructed the science of dance to Thandu Maharishi. This type of dance derived the name Thandava, known as the Cosmic Dance of Shiva. Shiva taught Lasya Natya to Parvathi who passed it on to Usha, the daughter of Banasura. Through Usha this style was passed on to the Gopis of Dwaraka who in turn passed it on to the maidens of Sowrashtra.
Even though they were found incapable of representing other characters in Brahma's dance dramas, the Gods and the Goddesses very well represent themselves, and have been passing the art of the heavenly dance through many other human channels, and created a number of styles ranging from Odissi to Bharatanatyam dances.
Bharata natyam has been undergoing a lot of changeover the centuries. It has always been mostly performed by women. Not so long ago the Hindu temples in South India had dancers-priestesses called devadasis who would sing, dance Dasi Attam (original version of Bharatnatyam), play many musical instruments. Out of the sixteen upacharas (offerings) offered to God in temples, the 14th was vocal and instrumental music and the 15th was Nrittam. More than 18 kinds of Nritta were being performed in the Vishnu temples and dances like Ajappanatanam and Kukutanatanam were performed in the Shiva temples. The devadasis were well-versed in Sanskrit and other languages, such as Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, etc., as they had to adapt compositions to suit the audience. The music and the dance was of 2 types: margi (mystic or spiritual) and desi (regional varieties of pop or folk dance).
The devadasi tradition gradually degraded and resulted in creation of various devadasi castes. Initially, devadasis lead a very strict and celibate life and were not allowed to have a family. Later the kings invited some devadasis to the royal courts, and such dancers became Rajanartakis, who performed mostly margi and gradually became royal concubines. The Muslim and then the British colonial rule has completely destroyed the devadasi tradition.
In Tamil Nadu the styles of Bharatanatyam were preserved in practice mostly by the gurus and performers of the Isai Velalar caste. In the first half of the 19th century much of Bharathanatyam was redefined by four brothers known today as the Tanjore Quartet. The Tanjore Quartet simplified and systematized all the basic steps of dance proper into sets of dance steps, adavus.
Each Bharatanatyam adavu is combined with others to produce jathis, series of steps based upon the rhythms of the music. The brothers wrote music specifically for Bharata natyam, and introduced a different sequence (margam) for Bharatanatyam dances. In the 20th century, such prominent Bharatanatyam guru's as Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer and Krishna Iyer made their significant contributions. The social status and image of Bharata natyam was raised by Rukminidevi Arundale, the founder of Kalakshetra in Chennai, who took some European ballet classes and later started teaching a simplified Kalakshetra style invented by her after having learnt some of the Pandanallur style of Bharatnatyam in a record 3 years' time.
The authentic Bharata natyam is still deeply rooted in the spiritual Hindu heritage.
Bharatanatyam technique
Bharatanatyam elements are divided in 3 categories:
There are diferent classes of Aduvus in different schools of Bharatanatyam: Tattaduvu, Mettaduvu, Nataduvu, Kattaduvu, Kudittamettaduvu, Maiaduvu, Mandiaduvu, Jati, Paraval adavu, Thath thai tham adavu, Theermanam adavu, Paicchal adavu, Thai thai thath tha, Thangidu thath tha dhinna, Kartari adavu, Sarukkal adavu, Katthi adavu, Thatti mettadavu, Nadai, Ardi, etc. There are up to 12 sub-classes in most aduvus, making it up to 150 aduvus. Only about 40-50 adavus are generally practised by an average Bharatanatyam dancer.
Hastas and Mudras in Bharatanatyam Abhinaya Darpanam classifies hand gestures of classical Bharata natyam as:
The Dance performed by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, virile aspect. The dance performed with bliss is called Ananda Tandava. The tandava of the violent and destructive aspect is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava in Bharatanatyam:
Abhinaya in Bharatanatyam
The Bharatnatyam techniques of communicating a verbal message are Abinaya (story-telling in mime), which uses facial expressions (Mikha abhinaya) and gestures.
Some authentic styles, such a Melattur style, emphasise a highly expressive, spontaneous and elevated mode of abhinaya. The Balasaraswaty tradition's abhinaya was extremely subtle and understated. The expressions of most Kalakshetra style dancers are very limited in scope and moulded after the western theatrical styles. Some contemporary styles, such as the one propagated by Shobana, favour the Bollywood-type expressions preferred by the murkha (uncultured people).
Bharata natyam proper is ekaharya performance: a single dancerpresenting various characters, regardless of their gender.
The Abinaya of is comprised of
Sringara means love, but is not confined to rati sringara. There is bhakti sringara and vatsalya (parental love) sringara besides rati sringara. Famous Bharata natyam dancer Balasaraswati has said: "sringara brings out the great beauties of this dance can be portrayed with all the purity of the spirit. The flesh, which is considered to be an enemy of the spirit and the greatest obstacle to spiritual realization, has itself been made a vehicle of the divine in the discipline of the dance. Sringara thus is an instrument for uniting the dancer with Divinity".
***Data Source: http://bharatanatyam.bharatanatyam.cn/bharatanatyam.html
According to Natya Shastra, Brahma created the Panchamaveda, the Fifth Veda (NatyaVeda), a quintessence of the main four Vedas, and gave it to Indra to have the gods (devas) to perform natya, but Indra stated, "They are neither able to receive it and to maintain it, nor they are fit to understand it and make use of it... The sages who know the mystery of the 4 Vedas and have fulfilled their vows are capable of maintaining NatyaVeda and putting it into practice". Obeying the fiat of Lord Brahma, sage Bharata wrote down Natyashastra. Bharata together with his 100 disciples and the Gandharavas with Apsaras performed natya, nrtta and nrtya before Siva.
Shiva improved and modified Bharata's interpretation and instructed the science of dance to Thandu Maharishi. This type of dance derived the name Thandava, known as the Cosmic Dance of Shiva. Shiva taught Lasya Natya to Parvathi who passed it on to Usha, the daughter of Banasura. Through Usha this style was passed on to the Gopis of Dwaraka who in turn passed it on to the maidens of Sowrashtra.
Even though they were found incapable of representing other characters in Brahma's dance dramas, the Gods and the Goddesses very well represent themselves, and have been passing the art of the heavenly dance through many other human channels, and created a number of styles ranging from Odissi to Bharatanatyam dances.
Bharata natyam has been undergoing a lot of changeover the centuries. It has always been mostly performed by women. Not so long ago the Hindu temples in South India had dancers-priestesses called devadasis who would sing, dance Dasi Attam (original version of Bharatnatyam), play many musical instruments. Out of the sixteen upacharas (offerings) offered to God in temples, the 14th was vocal and instrumental music and the 15th was Nrittam. More than 18 kinds of Nritta were being performed in the Vishnu temples and dances like Ajappanatanam and Kukutanatanam were performed in the Shiva temples. The devadasis were well-versed in Sanskrit and other languages, such as Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, etc., as they had to adapt compositions to suit the audience. The music and the dance was of 2 types: margi (mystic or spiritual) and desi (regional varieties of pop or folk dance).
The devadasi tradition gradually degraded and resulted in creation of various devadasi castes. Initially, devadasis lead a very strict and celibate life and were not allowed to have a family. Later the kings invited some devadasis to the royal courts, and such dancers became Rajanartakis, who performed mostly margi and gradually became royal concubines. The Muslim and then the British colonial rule has completely destroyed the devadasi tradition.
In Tamil Nadu the styles of Bharatanatyam were preserved in practice mostly by the gurus and performers of the Isai Velalar caste. In the first half of the 19th century much of Bharathanatyam was redefined by four brothers known today as the Tanjore Quartet. The Tanjore Quartet simplified and systematized all the basic steps of dance proper into sets of dance steps, adavus.
Each Bharatanatyam adavu is combined with others to produce jathis, series of steps based upon the rhythms of the music. The brothers wrote music specifically for Bharata natyam, and introduced a different sequence (margam) for Bharatanatyam dances. In the 20th century, such prominent Bharatanatyam guru's as Mangudi Dorairaja Iyer and Krishna Iyer made their significant contributions. The social status and image of Bharata natyam was raised by Rukminidevi Arundale, the founder of Kalakshetra in Chennai, who took some European ballet classes and later started teaching a simplified Kalakshetra style invented by her after having learnt some of the Pandanallur style of Bharatnatyam in a record 3 years' time.
The authentic Bharata natyam is still deeply rooted in the spiritual Hindu heritage.
Bharatanatyam technique
Bharatanatyam elements are divided in 3 categories:
- Nritta in the modernBharatanatyam refers to rhythmical and repetitive elements, i.e. it is dance proper
- Natya is the dramatic art of story-telling, and is a language of gestures, poses and mime. cf. Abhinaya
- Nritya is a combination of Nritta and Natya
- One-leg movement are called Chari.
- Two-leg movements are Karana.
- 3 Karanas make a Khanda.
- 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala.
- 4 to 9 Karanas make a Angahara.
- 4 to 5 Angaharas also make a Mandala.
There are diferent classes of Aduvus in different schools of Bharatanatyam: Tattaduvu, Mettaduvu, Nataduvu, Kattaduvu, Kudittamettaduvu, Maiaduvu, Mandiaduvu, Jati, Paraval adavu, Thath thai tham adavu, Theermanam adavu, Paicchal adavu, Thai thai thath tha, Thangidu thath tha dhinna, Kartari adavu, Sarukkal adavu, Katthi adavu, Thatti mettadavu, Nadai, Ardi, etc. There are up to 12 sub-classes in most aduvus, making it up to 150 aduvus. Only about 40-50 adavus are generally practised by an average Bharatanatyam dancer.
Hastas and Mudras in Bharatanatyam Abhinaya Darpanam classifies hand gestures of classical Bharata natyam as:
- Asamyuta Hasta
- Samyuta Hasta
- Deva Hasta
- Dashavatara Hasta
- Navagraha Hasta
- Jaati Hasta
- Bandhu Hasta
- Nritta Hasta
The Dance performed by Lord Shiva is known as Tandava, virile aspect. The dance performed with bliss is called Ananda Tandava. The tandava of the violent and destructive aspect is called Rudra Tandava. There are 7 types of Tandava in Bharatanatyam:
- Ananda Tandava,
- Tripura Tandava,
- Sandhya Tandava,
- Samara Tandava,
- Kaali tandava,
- Uma Tandava and
- Gauri Tandava.
There are some Bharatanatyam experts who distinguish 16 types of Tandava. Tandava produces vigourous, brisk movements.
- Jarita Lasya and
- Yauvaka Lasya.
Abhinaya in Bharatanatyam
The Bharatnatyam techniques of communicating a verbal message are Abinaya (story-telling in mime), which uses facial expressions (Mikha abhinaya) and gestures.
Some authentic styles, such a Melattur style, emphasise a highly expressive, spontaneous and elevated mode of abhinaya. The Balasaraswaty tradition's abhinaya was extremely subtle and understated. The expressions of most Kalakshetra style dancers are very limited in scope and moulded after the western theatrical styles. Some contemporary styles, such as the one propagated by Shobana, favour the Bollywood-type expressions preferred by the murkha (uncultured people).
Bharata natyam proper is ekaharya performance: a single dancerpresenting various characters, regardless of their gender.
The Abinaya of is comprised of
- Shringara - Love
- Hasya - Mirth
- Veera - Heroism
- Roudra - Anger
- Bhayanaka - Terror
- Bheebatsa - Disgust
- Adbhuta - Wonder
- Karuna - Compassion
Sringara means love, but is not confined to rati sringara. There is bhakti sringara and vatsalya (parental love) sringara besides rati sringara. Famous Bharata natyam dancer Balasaraswati has said: "sringara brings out the great beauties of this dance can be portrayed with all the purity of the spirit. The flesh, which is considered to be an enemy of the spirit and the greatest obstacle to spiritual realization, has itself been made a vehicle of the divine in the discipline of the dance. Sringara thus is an instrument for uniting the dancer with Divinity".
***Data Source: http://bharatanatyam.bharatanatyam.cn/bharatanatyam.html