Dance
Classical dances of India
Sangeet Natak Akademi has recognized 8 classical dances of India , namely Bharatanatyam ( Tamil Nadu ), Kathak ( Uttar Pradesh ), Kathakali ( Kerala ), Kuchipudi ( Andhra Pradesh ), Manipuri ( Manipur ), Mohiniyattam ( Kerala ), Odissi ( Odisha ), Sattriya ( Assam ) .
There are nine rasas in the classical dances of India, recognized by the Ministry of Culture: shringara ( love ), hasya ( laughter ), karuna ( sorrow ), raudra ( anger ) , veera (excitement), bhayanak ( fear ) , vibhatsa ( disgust ) , adbhuta ( wonder ) , and shanta ( dispassion ) .
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam ( Tamil Nadu ) was earlier known as Sadirattam.
Bharatanatyam expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Shaivism.
Krishna Iyer first coined the term Bharatanatyam for simple dance. It evolved from Ekahaya , where a dancer plays multiple roles in a single performance. It was performed by devadasis in the temples of South India , hence it is also known as Dasiyattam.
incorporates bhava , raga , rasa, and tala. Its three important specialties are nritta ( pure dance , solo ), natya ( dramatic dance , group ) , and nritya ( dance with emotions , solo ) .
It comprises six parts : alarippu ( invocation ), jatiswaram ( dance portion ), shabdam ( short compositions with shabad ), varnam ( a narrative , comprising both nritya and nritya ), padam ( religious prayers , hymns , kirtans ) and tillana ( originating in the tarana of Hindustani music ) .
A Bharatanatyam artist uses abhinaya as a tool to express ideas and evoke emotions among the audience.
acting can be classified into four types :
Satvik Acting – Expressing the mental state of the character by revealing it .
Angika Abhinaya – expressing using physical movements such as movement of hands , feet and limbs.
reader Acting - songs , music and dialogues like
Expression using speech.
dietary Abhinaya – expressing oneself using decorations such as costumes , jewellery and makeup.
Various styles of Bharatanatyam , called Baniyas :
Thanjavur style : Kan Dappa Pillai was one of the renowned Nattuvanars ( Guru / Teacher ) of this style and a direct descendant of the Tanjore Quartet , he was trained by Kannuswami Pillai.
Pandanallur style is attributed to the famous Minakshisundaram Pillai who was a direct descendant of the Tanjore Quartet.
Vazhavur style It was created by Ramaiah Pillai of Vazhuvoor town in Tamil Nadu.
Kalakshetra style The credit goes to Rukmini Devi Arun Dell, a disciple of Meenakshisundaram Pillai and a renowned Bharatanatyam exponent. Rukmini Devi founded the Kalakshetra Institute in Chennai and has made it a platform for promoting Bharatanatyam as an art form.
Melatur style It is attributed to Mangudi Doi Raja Iyer. It is known for its delicate footwork and emphasis on Shringara Rasa.
Famous dancers : Kamala Narayan , Bala Saraswati , C.S. V.S. Chandrashekhar , Leela Samson , Mrinalini Sarabhai , Padma Subramaniam , Rukmini Devi , Sonal Mansingh , Yamini Krishnamurthy , Laxman Swamy , Alarmel Valli , Smriti Krishnamurthy , Hema Malini and others.
Kuchipudi
Kuchipudi ( short for ' Kuchelapuram ' or ' Kuchilapuri ' ) is a classical dance form of India that originated in the village of Kuchelapuri in Andhra Pradesh. It has its origins in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit text
It is mentioned in Natya Shastra.
The Advaita Vedanta saint Tirthanarayana Yati and his disciple Siddhendra Yogi, an orphan, founded and organised the modern version of Kuchipudi in the 17th century. It originated as a form of worship of the Hindu god Krishna.
It includes all three classical dance elements : ' Nritta ' ( non-descriptive and imaginative dance ), Nritya and Natya.
The entry Daru is the main theme of Kuchipudi music ; it adopts the Jaru style of singing in medium and fast tempo.
The ornaments are made from a light wood called burugu. Shringar Rasa plays a major role in this dance form.
The solo play or solo part of a performance is called ' Shabdam ' . Popular Kuchipudi Shabdams are Dasavatharam Shabdam , Manduka Shabdam , Krishna Shabdam , Ramayana Shabdam , Mandodari Shabdam etc.
Famous Dancers : Guru Smt . Vijaya Prasad , Dr Vempati Chinna Satyam , Kalpalathika , Raja and Radha Reddy , Kaushalya Reddy , Yamini Reddy , Bhavna Reddy , Atisha Pratap Singh , Srilakshmi Govardhanan , Smt. Vaijayanti Kashi , Halim Khan , Pratiksha Kashi , Yamini Krishnamurthy , Arun Kumar , Achutha Manasa , Shobha Naidu , Uma Rama Rao , Vedantam Satyanarayana Sarma and others.
Mohiniyattam
Mohiniyattam ( Kerala ) classical dance performed by women in honour of Mohini Kalyanikutty Amman , an incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, known as the ' Mother of Mohiniyattam ' .
Lasya style based on the Natya Shastra . It incorporates the Nritta and Nritya elements described in the Natya Shastra . It incorporates facial expressions and hand gestures.
It has seven parts :
Cholkettu ( invocation , begins with paying obeisance to Goddess Bhagavathi and ends with a prayer to Shiva ) .
Jathiaswaram Or more precisely svarajeti , ( dance without any expressions that is performed only with notes and without song ) .
Varnam ( a play in which she imitates to distract attention while conveying the underlying story or message ) .
Padma ( song ), Tillana ( The dancer's interpretation of the tune created by the musician ) .
Shlokam ( A hymn in praise ) and Seventh { Expression ( or Abhinaya ) is introduced into the repertoire for the first time } .
The techniques of Mohiniyattam include adavas ( steps ) and mudras ( hand gestures ) .
Advance It is classified into four parts : Thaganam , Jaganam , Dhaganam and Samishram. These Adavuz were codified by Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma in the 20th century.
is available in ' Vyavaharamala ' ( written in 1709 ) written by Mazhamangalamnarayanan Nambudiri on Indian jurisprudence .
currencies The Hastalakshanas are based on the book Deepika. There are 24 mudras in total. Some of these are : Pataka ,
Katakam , fist , karathari etc.
Famous dancers : Sunanda Nair , Smita Rajan , Gopika Verma , Jaiprabha Menon , Pallavi Krishnan and Vinita Nedungadi among others.
Manipuri
is known for its Hindu Vaishnavite themes and the Radha - Krishna love - inspired dance drama Raslila.
The two categories of Manipuri dance are the Goi ( depicting the Lasya element described in Bharata's Natya Shastra ) and the Cholom ( a form of the classical Tandava dance ) .
call Manipuri dance as ' Jagoi ' .
It is performed by followers of the Shaivite and Shakti cults , from which also originated other ritual dances dedicated to Lord Shiva , Nongpink Ningthou , Parvati and Panthoibi.
Various forms of Manipuri dance : Raas , Sankirtan , Dhola Cholam , Kartal Cholam , Pung Cholam ( dancers play Pung / drum while dancing ), and Thang Ta ( martial art form ) .
Manipuri Sankirtan It was also included in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2013. It is found mainly in Manipur ( with some parts of Tripura and Assam).
in parts of India . It is performed to describe the life and deeds of Lord Krishna. The instruments used are cymbals and drums.
' Rasa Leela ' means ' dance of divine love ' which beautifully depicts the love between Lord Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and Radha, the wife of Lord Krishna. Its three types are Taal Rasak ( followed by clapping ), Danda Rasak ( drum is played with two sticks while the dancers' positions form geometric shapes ), Mandal Rasak ( Lord Krishna in the centre surrounded by gopis ) .
Various forms of Manipuri dance :
Pung Cholom ( meaning " roar of drums ") is the soul of Manipuri Sankirtana music and classical Manipuri dance.
Dhol Cholom ( Drum dance or Dholak Cholom ) is performed in the spring season known as ' Yaosang ' meaning the spring festival of Holi.
Kartal Cholam The Tandava dance is accompanied by cymbals. It is performed only by male dancers.
Thang Ta dance It is a traditional martial art from Manipur. Its name is derived from two words , Thang
( meaning ' sword ') and ta ( meaning ' spear ' ) .
Famous dancers : Hunjaba Guru Bipin Singha , Jhaveri sisters ( Nayana Jhaveri , Ranjana Jhaveri , Suvarna Jhaveri , and Darshana Jhaveri ), Nirmala Mehta , Savita Mehta , Yumlembam Gambhini Devi etc.
Odissi
Odissi ( Odisha ) can be traced to the Natya Shastra. Its southeastern style is known as Odhra Magadha.
It is performed by women and expresses religious stories and spiritual ideas , especially those of Vaishnavism ( Lord Jagannath as Vishnu ) . It is the oldest surviving classical dance in India , having begun around the 2nd century BCE, based on archaeological evidence found in the Udayagiri Caves.
Traditional Odissi exists in two main styles , the first by women , focusing on sacred and spiritual temple dances ( Maharis ) , the second by boys , with variations to include athletic and acrobatic performances ( Gotipua ) in girls' attire .
The performance repertoire includes invocation , nritta ( pure dance ), nritya ( expressive dance ), natya ( dance drama ) and moksha ( dance climax depicting freedom of the soul and spiritual liberation ) .
Dance and acting are the two most interesting features of Odissi.
Dance : Dancers perform exquisite body movements to create decorative movements.
Abhinaya : Dancers make facial expressions to illustrate a religious story or legend.
24 mudras are described in Natyashastra and 28 mudras are described in Abhinaya Darpan.
There are three primary dance positions in Odissi : Samabhanga , Abhyanga and Tribhanga.
It includes two major postures – Tribhanga and Chowk.
Chowk is a position mimicking a square — a very masculine stance with the body's weight balanced evenly. Tribhanga is a very feminine pose where the body is deflected at the neck , torso, and knees.
A classical Odissi performance consists of five distinct elements : " Invocation ", the introduction of a particular divinity to the stage and audience
Praise ; " Sthayi " or " Batu " which introduces the techniques of Odissi dance ; " Pallavi " which evokes a particular emotion through abstract forms ; " Abhinaya " which presents a traditional story about the deeds of a specific god / goddess ; " Mokshaya " which takes all participants to a higher spiritual level.
Famous dancers : Sonal Mansingh , Sanyukta Panigrahi , Jhelum Paranjpe , Mayadhar Raut , Gangadhar Pradhan , Ileana Sitaristi , Leena Mohanty , Chitra Krishnamurthy , Bijayini Satpathy , Madhavi Mudgal , Sanchita Bhattacharya etc.
sattriya dance
Sattriya dance ( Assam ) originated in the 15th century in Assam in a monastery called Sattra as a part of the neo - Vaishnavite movement started by Srimanta Sankardev .
Sattriya dance can be classified into two styles , namely ' Paurashik Bhangi ' i.e. Tandava or masculine style and ' Stri Bhangi ' i.e. Leshya or feminine style.
The Pat silk saree is the most popular type of saree used in this dance , which represents the locality through its various colourful motifs and designs.
These songs are composed by Shankardev , which are known as ' Borgit ' .
The basic dance unit and exercise of the Sattriya is called the Mati Akhara. There are 64 Mati Akharas and they can be subdivided into eight main types : Ora , Sat , Jhalak , Sitika , Pak , Jaap , Lon and Khar.
Famous Dancers :- Gunakanta Dutta Barbayan , Manik Barbayan , Jogen Dutta Bayan , Anita Sarma , Sarodi Saikia , Haricharan Bhuyan Borbayan , Ramakrishna Talukdar , Ranjumoni Saikia etc.
Kathak
Kathak dance ( Uttar Pradesh ) , the word Kathak comes from the Sanskrit Vedic word Katha meaning " story " and Kathakar meaning " one who tells stories " or " one who deals with stories " . The story of Radha and Krishna is the main theme of Kathak.
It became popular during the reign of the Mughals. Its golden age came under the patronage of Wajid Ali Shah ( the last Nawab of Awadh ) .
The three main parts of Kathak dance are Mangalacharan and ' Nritya ' and ' Nritya ' described in the ' Natya Shastra ' .
Nritta : Pure dance depicted by the artist.
Dance : Here the artistes perform a dance of gestures , expressions and slow body movements accompanied by vocal and instrumental music.
A story or theme is conveyed through a medium.
Facial expressions and erotic gestures during Kathak performances are mentioned in Marcus B. Fuller's book The Wrongs of Indian Womanhood, published in 1900 .
Famous Dancers : Pandit Birju Maharaj , Lachhu Maharaj , Shambhu Maharaj , Shovana Narayan , Kumari Kamala , Sunanya Hazarilal Agarwal , Pandit Durgalal , Prerana Shrimala , Rani Karna , Sitara Devi , Rupa Rani Das Bora etc.
Kathakali
Kathakali ( Kerala ) The word Kathakali is derived from Katha ( Sanskrit ) meaning " story or conversation or traditional tale ", and Kali ( from Kala ) meaning " performance and art " .
- drama arts called ' Krishnanattam ' and Ramanattam, based on the Mahabharata and Ramayana, are the predecessors of ' Kathakali ' .
This is a fine art It is a harmonious combination of 5 forms - literature ( sahityam ), music ( sangeetham ), painting ( chitram ), acting ( natyam ) and dance ( nritham ) . The dance styles combine the four aspects of acting ( angika , ahara , vachika , satvika ) and nritta , dance and drama.
The story Nalacharitham was written by " Unnai Variyar . " It is a romantic tale of the eternal love between Nala and Damayanti. The dance uses 24 basic mudras ( hand gestures ) and a total of 470 different symbols.
The characters of this dance are broadly divided into Satvika ( noble characters like Krishna and Rama ), Rajasika ( evil characters ) , and Tamasika ( bearded characters ) . It follows the traditional Sopana music of Kerala.
In Kathakali , greater emphasis is placed on " Aharyabhinaya ", the use of costumes , jewellery and facial make-up.
A Kathakali performance begins with the " Kelikottu , " which draws the audience's attention, followed by the " Thodayam . " The " Kelikottu " is the formal announcement of the Kathakali dance performed in the evening when drums and cymbals are played for a short time in the courtyard.
Musicians and drummers then take the stage with a display of their skills in " Melappadam . " The performance concludes with a pure dance called " Dhansi . " " Tiranokku ,"
" Pacha " or " Minukku " , all other characters have their stage debuts.
Kalasam is a dance sequence in Kathakali.
Famous dancers : Kalamandalam Gopi , Haripriya Namboodiri , Kalamandalam Krishna Prasad , Kottakkal Sivaraman , Kalamandalam Ramankutty Nair , Kalamandalam Vasu Pisharody , Kavungal Chathunni Panicker.
Chhau dance
, Jharkhand, and Odisha with martial traditions . It is found in three styles : Purulia Chhau ( performed during the Surya Utsav in West Bengal ), Saraikela Chhau ( Jharkhand ), and Mayurbhanj Chhau ( Odisha ) . The Ministry of Culture has recognized it as the 9th classical dance of India .
Dancers enact stories from the Hindu epics Ramayana and Mahabharata , the Puranas, and other Indian literature. It is performed with religious themes found in Shaivism , Shaktism, and Vaishnavism.
It was included on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010 .
Famous dancers : Jagannath Choudhary , Mousumi Choudhary , Biren Kalindi , Binadhar Kumar , Kartik Singh Mura , Baghambar Singh Mura , Upendra Biswal , Banmali Das , Rajendra Patnaik , Gopal Prasad Dubey etc.
