Day 4 BharatNatyam

 Just as Kathak was infamous being danced by Mujra girls during Mughal rule in northern India, Bharat Natyam was developed by Devdaasis in the temples of southern India, mostly parts of Tamil Nadu. I really feel bad about this and feel happy that I am born in an era where this dancing is not limited to a particular section of society and Any Body Can Dance....lol...They say devdaasis were married to god and their only job was to pursue music and performing arts and worshiping. Yes indeed dancing or any performing arts form require total deciation...
Today bharata natyam is one of the most widely performed dance form in the world. The origins of this dance go back to the Natya Shastra. Bharatnatyam = Bhava+Raga+Tala+Natyam. Thus its again the base of storytelling combined with pure dance movements. Difference between Kathak and Bharatnatyam is same as the difference between Northern and Southern music, otherwise both are story telling dances with emphasis on mudras and bhavas. Bharat Natyamis also described as Natya Yoga or dance with yoga in Balasaraswati, which reveals the spiritual and physical human body. Bhava sylbolizes cosmic energy.After the four veda, Brahmaji created fifth veda 'Natya Veda', which had comibations of Pathya(words) of Rig veda, Abhinaya of Yajur veda, Geetham of Sam veda, and Rasam of Samveda...so even that time remix was present..:)

The dance is also distinctive due to the particular styles of dressing and makeup.The typical bol in south Indian accent identifies the dance form. More about it in next post..

Enjoy this bharatnatyam Adavu by Vijayanti Mala in Chitoor Rani Padmini (Tamil 1963). This is the Natta Adavu in classical Indian dance of Bharatanatyam."Natta" means to stretch and so the Adavu involves some stretching to form beautiful patterns. You can get a feel of devdasis and temple dancers. Also observe the typical bharat natyam hand and foot movements. They are always so synchronized and structured(more strict than Kathak) ; you will always find equal number of steps in right as much as in left direction. The adjoining music is Karnataki!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7oBW8QsHmg

 Bharatnatyam comprises of Nritta(plain movements), Natya(acting) and their combination Nritya. The entire body is devided in Anga (Head, hand, chest, waist, bottom, legs), Pratyanga (Shoulders, Arms, Stomach, thighs, knees) and Upaanga (Sight, eyebrow, eyelids, eyeballs, cheek, nose, gums, lower lip, teeth, tougue and face). Thus each and every part of your body dances when you do BharatNatyam..

Many actresses like Wahida Rehman,Shilpa Shetty, Deepika Padukone are trained Bharat Natyam dancers…However, Hema Malini is totally dedicated to this dance form and have given several mesmerizing performances.She has even trained many including her both daughters - Esha and Ahna.
Hope you like one of the performance by Hema Malini and her daughters dancing on Natya Vihar Parampara. Observe the beautiful postures, just like some dancing statues…Hemaaaa, Durge durgati nashini…Perfect postures and perfect bhava along with perfect costume…Bharat Natyam is very strict and no lethargy allowed…There are several hand mudra and at a particular moment your hand can only be in a particular mudra…

Also observe the Mrugundam dhavni instead of tabla/pakhawaj…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJMf_6eylcA

Bharatnatyam also have same nine rasas(mood) - Shringara, Hasya, Veera, Roudra, Bhayanaka, Vibhatsa, Adbhuta. Karunya and Shanta...and also has Tandava(7 types - Ananda, Tripura, Sandhya, Samara, Kaali, Uma and Gauri Tandava) and Lasya ( 2 types - Jarita and Yauvaka). Male dancer is called Nayak and Female dancer Nayika and they have their further sub-divisions....Usually after a tap(12 years) a dancer is ready for public performance called Arangetram..

Enjoy this beautiful performance by Sridevi in movie Jaag Utha Insaan...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMm7GfnQm7g

You might have enjoyed several performances by female dancers called Nayika. The Nayika is further classified into 8 types, called Ashtanayika Bhavas. They are
• Abhisarika (bold in her love expressions)
• Kalahantarika ( Repenting for her quarrels with her lover) • Khandita (broken and disappointed)
• Proshitapathika ( missing her lover who is pardesi babu)
• Swadheenpathika (proudy)
• Vasakasajjika (waiting desperately for her lover…like Aishwarya in Silsila ye chahat ka)
• Virahotkanthika ( who wants viroh to end)
• Vipralabda ( Disaapointed of waiting for long)
The male dancer, Nayak is classified as
• Pati – Married and faithful husband
• Upapati – Married but in love with another woman
• Vaisika – Unfaithful man
Let’s not go further in to this classification and theoretical talk. Enjoy this wonderful performance by Kamal Hassan in a Malayalam movie…yes he did bharat natyam in ek duje ke liye, but I am not getting the exact clip so here is one from Sagarasangamam …with Jaya Prada…where he is offering his naman to Shankara and Parvatiji – adya gurus of nritya…Naad vinodam, natya vilasam,parama sukham !!!..not difficult to understand the words….Thats why including it here though its in Malayalam…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckuYaGGkqjw

  In the world of remixes how can this pure classical dance be far from remix? Here is Rani Mukherji and Preity Zinta’s Bharatnatyam Remix
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCgCNJYk1l4

 

Day 3 Jazz Dance

Jazz is a fun dance style and includes bold, dramatic body movements, including body isolations and contractions….tik tok tik tok…..Remember RD Burman’s Jazz beats used in Teesri Manzil for Shammiji’s entry as rockstar?
 

Jazz dance originated in 18th century with African-Americans, that’s why the rhythm and speed of Africans and expressions of Americans, makes the dance so much fun. The name was first used during World War I. Over the period of time, Jazz has seen various forms and its definition is flexible enough to accommodate any fast beat rhythm dance with energy & expressions as sub form of Jazz. 

1. The dance which I closely relate to Jazz in 1960 is from Teesri Manzil (1966)..Aaja, aaja mein hun pyar tera, allah allah inkar tera. Infact most of the dances in those days were influed by Jazz….includes Badan pe sitare lapateye huwa, Aaj kal tere mere charche har jupan par,o hasina zulfo wali janejahan… Usually in Jazz the laya/rhythm gradually increases and then reaches to fastest beat at climax, like in aaja aaja dance….I am focusing myself to dance but I know you won’t stop yourself from commenting about RD and and ashaji… here you go…
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8ZrN_pizyQ

 2. Shiamak Davar, a well-known name for Indo-Jazz movements, started his classes in Mumbai in 1985. He had been training in London and New York. But after coming to India, his fusion of Indian dance with musical theater style jazz was not welcome. After the success of same in ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, everybody rushed to him to explore the dance form further…Thanks to Karishma!!
You can spot the evolution of Jazz from 1960s to 1980s…Le gayi le gayi dil le gayi le gayi…

 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG1-LRNE57Y

  3. Now you would ask me is, Jazz is a dance with energetic movement, then how is it different than hiphop or break dance? Well Jazz is more structured; hip hop is like free-style. You do lots of spits and twirls in Jazz and may be its faster than ballet and slower than hip-hop. Some times dances are so confusing as it is better to just watch and enjoy instead of classifying them to their form....especially bollywood dances are always mixed kind...

Recently there is a remix of ballet and jazz with modern mixed to it and its rather slow. It is called Lyrical Jazz... During the promo of Guzarish, Hritik was said to have done lyrical jazz in that...but dont know where the song magically disappeared... I would be happy if anybody can share the link....No 'Udi' is not lyrical Jazz...I tried my best to search for typical jazz bollywood numbers but most of them are with Shammiji, Helenji or Shiamk so here is a link to performance of an eight year old kid...but what a dance...see the structured movements with beautiful twirls... isse kehte hain Jazz....

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8utSV6b5tc

Day 2  Lavani

I guess most of my friends are well acquainted with Marathi and Maharashtrian culture so perhaps have a first-hand information about Lavani(A famous folk dance from Maharashtra maza). This dance is accompanied by typical music where the lead dancer is accompanied by a group of other dancers in the background, you can say Dholkichya talavar… Lavani is ideally performed by a female performer and has a very distinctive entry….tak tak tak tak there is a dholki thap and the artist enters with ghunghat, facing backwards towards audience.
Lavani is derived from the word, Lavanya which means beauty…and it qualifies itself under shringar rasa.
The songs used in Lavani are mostly erotic in nature but there are lavanis which has a tinge of satire on social problems. Major instruments are dholki, manjeera, lejim, tuntuni and harmonium.
There are two types of Lavani : Nirguni (Free from any guna or type – philosophical) and Shringari( you can guess what..) I could not get a single Nirguni Lavani in youtube..so you can see the popularity of Shringari Lavani...
The poet-singer- is called Shahir while narrator-singer is called Nacha. Nacha is more commonly seen in Tamasha, the dramatic manifestation of Lavani....Usually, Nacha wears some lipsticks and shows woman-like nakhras..In short you can say, Lavani is a dance fragment of Tamasha.
Mostly we find Lavanis from Dhangars/shepherds but its also has its roots in Madhya Pradesh. Naik Banjara and Ranubai and their love songs and tale of balabau are well-known stories of lavani from MP.
Attire is nine-yard silk sari, usually bright in color with accessories like kolhapuri saaj, a long necklace and nath and hair-style is a bun called Ambada decorated with gajras…all possible shringar to please the audience...(yeah yeah I know Madhuri didn’t in Humko aaj kal hai intezar…but that was not Lavani…:)…)

1. Here is one Lavani from movie Ashanti performed by Shabana Azmi, Parveen Babi and Zeenat Aman. Lavangi mirchi mein Kolhapur ki..sung by Asha+Lata…..Please observe the costumes and enjoy beautiful dholaki…..
let me know tikhaa laga ke nahi?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN28DnyYLqo

2. Viddya Balan’s Lavani performance in Ferrai..I agree this is fimli lavani but comes close to lavani than chikni chameli….or ayya girl..Atleast I feel this is close to Lavani....I dont consider song with marathi base as lavani...as mungda and all...so after carefully scrutinizing the songs here is the song....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZ9kPRo8A

3. How can I have a post without Madhuri?...lol seriously guys I could not find any other performance close to Lavani... Madhuri had performed on several songs collaged in a performance in Jhalak Dikhla Ja...but I feel the present song from Anjam is better in terms of music...listen carefully to the beats between the stranzas..and words, costumes and moves...shringar ras se paripurna....but still graceful...
Mein Kolhapur se aayi hun.

.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzFzV5RgAVM

Madhuri dixit on( apsara aali+dholkichya talavar+mein Kolhapur se aayi hun+uchaki) in jhalak dikhlaja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6i8U33duQY

Lets nowl move on to Marathi Lavani today as I could not find suitable similar compositions in Hindi.

Marathi movies were dominated by Tamasha/Lavanis and people’s life sketches that were from Tamasha background. Some of the notable movies include Pinjra(Sandhya), Sangtye Aika(Jayashri Gadkar) , Natrang(Sonali Kulkarni and Amruta Khanvilkar) , Ek Hota Vidushak (Laxmikant Berde), Tamasha - Hach Khel Udya punha( (Bharat Jadhav).

·         4. Jayashri Gadkar was a noted Marathi actress of 50s and 60s and was aptly called lavani queen as she has so many lavani to her credit.(Later she shifted to being Kaushalya in Famous Ramayana serial where her husband Bal Dhuri played the role of Dashratha).  She was a Jr. artist in Jhanak Jhanak Payal baje and later started Lavani career from Sagtye Aika Infact, the lavani was adopted by Marathi films in the sixties from this movie.It was based on the biography of tamasha legend Hansa Wadkar.Some of well-known performances of Jayashri Gadkar are :

·                 Sawal Jawab with Arun Sarnaik from Sawal Majha Aika, sung by famous Lavani singer Sulochana Chavhan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4f5_E18PCfg

·                 Bugadi mazi sandal ga from Shraddhanjali

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml7SUhYj_GE

·                 Khara Saangu from Bijli

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rcB4BAWpLc

·       5. Sandhya, wife of V. Shantaram also gave many Marathi lavani hits. You can enjoy Sandhya’s famous Lavani, “Latpat latpat tuje chalna” from Amar Bhopali, 1951….you can observe the mavlas and kind of setup in Shivaji Era..beautiful rhythmical wordings and sung by Lataji in her best..If you just listen to this song you may not imagine its Lavani..This is not Tamasha’s Lavani….so dance steps are different than typical, as well as the costume: Lavani originated from the 15th century when the Peshwa rule was reigning. There were many singers of Marathi culture who were famous with their music. Then it was Honaji Baba who introduced the tabla instead of the dholki. Then the concept of the baithakichi Lavani started where the performer is seen in a seated position.So enjoy this baithakichi lavani:

·         Latpat latpat tujhe chalne- Amar Bhopali 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Hav1JVGNA

·         Disla ga baai disla – Pinjara

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIk_MFA4saU

·         Chabidar chabi sandya hey vagana bara nava..scoail message

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1wfogAwKL8

·         6. Popular Lavanis in Recent times:

-          Amruta Khanvilkar - Vajale ki Bara - Natrang

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXUijOhdnDQ

-          Sonali Kulkarni - Apsara Ali – Natrang ( she is different than Dil Chahta hai wali Sonali Kulkarni J)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_sCh4kx-Lk

-          Resham Tipnis – Me Sataryachi gulchhadi – Bakula Namdev Ghotal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s9gSz4lpj8

·                 Shweta Tiwari 0 Kaata Rutla – Yeddyanchi Jatra Choreographed by Saroj Khan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Js85ehjFpIY