Summer Activity... Bharatnatyam

Hello people!..its a sleepy friday afternoon here in Pennsylvania. With the temperatures touching as high as 36 degrees and no sign of breeze outside, all I can do is just sit back sipping lemonade and surf the web mindlessly...hmm..or probably, i can do something better ..why not tell u more about my dance activity this summer??

After almost a span of a year, this summer I got to spend a lot of time with my passion--Bharatanatya.I thorougly enjoyed revising my old dance items and also finished choreographing a new dance item called "Jathiswaram" set to Hansanandhi raga and Rupaka tala.For those who dont know much about this ancient dance form..well the literature is replete with information about it.(see here). To tell you more about the item,the word Jathiswaram can be split up into two distinct parts, "Jathi" and "Swaram". In this item, the jathi patterns flow in accord with the swara patterns resulting in a rich audio-visual effect.The swara aspect becomes more important in this particular piece.A wonderful medley of slow and fast paced verses gives the apt lift to the energy level of the performance ,the peak of which is realized in the Thillana.

Jathiswaram comes in the category of pure dance or Nritta which is devoid of abhinaya and usually follows the pushpanjali or allaripu in the traditional margam (path of dance recital). Dance combined with abhinaya is termed as Nritya. Abhinaya can be further divided into 4 categories of aangik abhinaya(expression through body movements), vaachik abhinaya (Expression through speech/words), aahaarya abhinaya(expression through costumes), saatvik abhinaya(expression through heart/soul). According to me,in Bharatanatya, Aangik and satvik abhinaya are of utmost importance. Appropriate body gestures and facial expressions can effectively depict a character or convey a message and help the audience visualize it without the need for song or special costume.For example,if one has to depict Lord Krishna, one need not wear the pitambar vastra or play a flute..rather one just needs to emulate the flute using hand gestures (aangik abhinay) and assume a demure poise like that of Lord Krishna(satvik abhinay).thats the magic of dance...u can be what u want to be..!

Initially viewed as the means to attain nirvana, bharatnatyam fell prey to the malicious mideaval rulers and came to be called "devadasiattam". Bharatnatyam was banned and its learners were subject to severe social ostracism .Thanks to the efforts of stalwarts like Ram Gopal, Bala saraswathi and Smt.Rukmini Devi..bharatanatya was revived in the early 1900's and now has spread far and wide ,finally getting the status it truly deserves.In todays society, bharatanatya is no longer confined to art or entertainment but has its reach in the fields of physical therapy, personality development, and the like.Nevertheless, in the present social context,it can be used as a powerful tool to create awarness of national integration, fight against diseases and world peace & harmony.

ok..i think i should wrap up for today...more posts on dance to follow..so all those interested..keep yourself updated.