Bharata Natyam

The many beautiful traditions of the southern state of Tamil Nadu are visible in the dance form called Bharata Natyam. When you see this dance, you see the brilliant silk saris woven in the temple town of Kancheepuram. India is a country that can boast of several first-class weaving traditions. Yet, Tamil Nadu is known for its silk saris. The dancer wears these Kancheepuram saris when she does Bharata Natyam. One also sees the famous 'temple jewellery'. These are ruby coloured stones set in different gold plated designs. This type of jewellery has adorned the deities in the temples of Tamil Nadu, for over a hundred years. One also hears the melodies of renowned South Indian composers. They wrote especially for dance in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada. These are the languages of the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka respectively. Most of the really beautiful compositions were sung in the typical Carnatak or South Indian style of classical music. And of course, one hears and sees the instruments of the south - namely the mridangam, the flute, the Saraswathi Veena and the violin. To watch a dance recital, is to watch all these images simultaneously and to understand that they all come from an old and revered culture.

People generally believe that Bharata Natyam means 'Indian Dance'. This is incorrect. It is possible that it was named after the great saga Bharata, who wrote the Natya-Shastra. But what is most possible is that it stands for three vital organs of the dance, namely _expression, melody and rhythm. 'Bha' stands for bhava or _expression; 'Ra' for raga or melody and 'Ta' for tala or rhythmic cycles. Therefore, Bha-ra-ta Natyam is the dance of _expression, melody and rhythm.

When you visit a temple in South India, you see many carved images on the walls of the 'gopuram' or temple-tower. In some temples there are elaborate carvings on the walls inside, as well. These sculptures in stone tell the stories of many gods and goddesses. They are tales of war and valour, of love and marriage. And in all the temples, you will see 'celestial' musicians and dancers - called gandharvas and apsara. It would seem that dance and music was central to the lives of not only the gods and goddesses, but also to those people who built these temples in earlier times.

Bharata Natyam is a sophisticated and energetic dance form. It is very precise. The basic postures of the style are 'balanced' positions. This means that the weight of the dancer is placed squarely down the centre of the body. It is not deflected and the hip is never used. A whole variety of movements can be seen in Bharata Natyam. There is an emphasis on the striking of the floor with the feet. There are jumps in the air. There are pirouettes as well, which are called bhramaris. And there are movements done with knees making contact with the floor. These are called mandi adavus.

Bharata Natyam is a style that boasts of both strength and beauty. It has slow and fast passages. It has bright and dynamic movements of the body and hands. It is also quiet and reflective. It may be performed solo or as a group with many dancers. The dance-drama traditions of Tamil Nadu are plays with dance and music. These dramas use elements of Bharata Natyam in their dramas. The pure dance or ' nritta' and the expressive dance called 'nrittya' are part of their acting techniques. These actors are well trained in these aspects of dance. These dance-dramas are called ' natakas'.

The solo dancer also uses various methods of story telling to interpret the verses and stories she performs. Unlike the actors in the natakas, the soloist does not have costumes and make-up that are particular to certain characters. As a soloist, he or she has to act out all the characters in her stories with the same costume. Although the dancer's costume is beautiful, it does not help her much when depicting a poor, old man or an evil king like Ravana! The Bharata Natyam dancer, like solo dancers from other styles, has to break through the beauty of her costume and appearance, to interpret the various tales from our mythology.

The person who conducts the recital in Bharata Natyam is called the nattuvanar. In the early part of the last century and till about the seventies, this person was the 'guru' of the dancer. His role was not only to train the dancer, but also to conduct the recital and co-ordinate the different musicians. he himself played metal cymbals. This is called the nattuvangam. Although a nattuvanar still does the nattuvangam for a Bharata Natyam recital, he is no more the guru of the dancer. He is a musicians like the others and does not have a special place among them. The other musicians are the vocalist, a mridangist or percussion player, a flutist, a violinist and veena player.

The items in a traditional presentation of Bharata Natyam, were composed and designed by four brothers. known as the Tanjore Quartet. They were court musicians in the palace of Thanjavur and were extremely talented in all aspects of music. The compositions they gave us are still used by dancers.
A traditional set of items is:
1. Alaripu - an invocatory item, in which the dancer does simple pure dance movements. These are done as an offering to God, the Guru and to the Sabha or audience.
2. Jatiswaran - This is also a pure dance item with swaras or notes for the musical form.
3. Shabdam - As the name suggests it has 'words' or verse about a child god, like Krishna or Muruga. These verses are interpreted without elaboration by the dancer.
4. Varnam - This is a test of the dancer. It is the most elaborate composition in the dancers training. It has poetry that is interpreted with great elaboration. It has pure dance, set to mridanga, or drum syllables which are recited by the nattuvanar. It has swaras or notes to which the dancer does long, pure dance sequences.
5. Padams and Javalis - These are expressional dance pieces on love, set to beautiful verses.
6. Kirtanam - This is a lively composition that sometimes describes the dance of Shiva. It is a combination of movements and abhinaya or _expression of the story.
7. Tillana - A very intricate pure dance item with a fast tempo and quick movements of the body.To do these items on stage one after another, the dancer ahs to be well trained and proficient.

Bharata Natyam is like a diamond - it has many sides to it and each of these sides lends to its lustre. It has melody and rhythm, poetry and drama, _expression and sculpture, colour and tradition. These aspects blend, to make it on of the most popular dance forms in the world today.

Thanks to Vani Nalliah (Hyd - Masti) for forwarding this info... :D