Bharatanatyam
Bharatnatyam is one of the most popular classical Indian dances originated in Tamil Nadu. It is believed that Bharatnatyam was revealed by Lord Brahma to Bharata, a famous sage who then codified this sacred dance in a Sanskrit text called the Natya Shastra. The Natya Shastra is one of the fundamental treatises on Indian drama and aesthetics. Natya Shastra divides dance into two distinct forms- nritta, and nritya. In nritta, focus is on mastery of abstract hand gestures and movements, whereas the dancer employs a complex system of hand signals and body language to depict emotional expressions in nritya.
Bharatanatyam was developed by amalgamating a number of elements from the earlier forms of Dassi Attam and Sathir. Dassi Attam was a dance form of the Devadasis (temple dancing girls or servants of god) while Sathir was a form found in the palaces of southern India. The Bharatnatyam dance flourished in the Hindu temples of South India. The temple dancers flourished under royal patronage and religious devotion. The Devadasi system became an integral part of South Indian temple ritual. Slowly and gradually the Devadasi system went into disrepute due to economic and social conditions attached to it. The credit of reviving and popularizing the Bharatnatyam in its present form goes to Rukmini Devi, who gave it new life and respectability. Bala Saraswati, the queen of Bharatnatyam also deserves accolades for her work and efforts to popularize Bharatnatyam.
Bharatanatyam is a complete theater involving body, mind and spirituality. A profound and incomparable theatrical technique involving body, mind and spirituality that has gone through thousands of years of evolutionary search and researches, conceptualized to be an easy communion between humans and super humans. The stylized hand gestures resembling the natural human gesticulations with physically communicating expressions, the complicated science of mathematics in architectural engineering of body, mind, major & minor limbs, weave patterns of innumerable picturesque designs of aesthetic beauty.
At present Bharatnatyam is an immensely popular classical dance form of India. The present form of Bharatnatyam dance was evolved by Poniah Pillai of Tanjore and his brothers. Formats of Bharatnatyam consist of Alarippu (invocation), Jathi Swaram (note combinations) Shabdam (notes and lyrics), Varnam (a combination of pure dance and abhinaya) lighter items like Padams and Javalis (all erotic) and finally the thillana (again pure dance). Bharatnatyam is considered the mother art of most of the other classical dances of India and inspires many art forms like sculpture, painting, and icon-making.
Bharatanatyam Styles
Over the past 150 years, various distinct styles of Bharatanatyam have emerged. These styles are specific to various regions of South India. The most important of these styles are:
- Melattur
- Pandanainallur
- Vazhuvoor
- Thanjavur
- Kalakshetra
- Mysore
- Kanchipuram
Each of these styles have unique aesthetic character and nuances.
Other dance forms: