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