Dance is the fifth veda

Bharatanatyam
('Naatyaakhyam panchamam vedam' - Dance is the fifth veda)
Welcome Artists and Art lovers!

Enter into the very vast world of Bharathanatyam.

Let us understand the constituents of this dance form, the training, the practice, the textual content, the repertoire, the performance, the accompanists, the costumes, the philosophy, the artists, the rasikas et al. It is a process. The list flows.

'Naatyaakhyam panchamam vedam' - Dance is the fifth veda

So says Sage Bharatha in his 'Natyashastra'

Bharathanatyam, an acronym of bhava, raga and thala, is one of the main classical dance forms of India. The others being Kathak, Odissi, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Mohiniattam and the gentle Manipuri.

Bharathanatyam

The main constituents of bharathanatyam are

The Nritta (the rhythmical base) and

The Abhinaya (the expressional base).

LEARNING BHARATHANATYAM

The training begins in the realm of Nritta..The child starts learning the 'adavus' i.e the basic steps of dance. There are series of adavus, where the movements blossom from the simple to the complicated.

Before starting with the adavu training, the child learns

THE SALUTATION movement in dance, which every dancer does before starting the dance and after ending the dance, be it practice or performance.
THE STANCE The initial stance or posture in Bharathanatyam is the 'araimandi' or the half sit position. This is the basic dance posture in which most of the adavus are executed. The hands are extended in the natyaarambham position.

THE ADAVU SERIES (Broad classifications)
Some adavus are named after the position of the feet, whereas, some adavus

are known by the drum syllables recited for practice.

1.Thattadavu
2.Naattadavu
3.Pakkadavu
4.Meettadavu
5.Kudhitthamettu adavu
6.Mandi adavu
7.Sarukkal adavu
8.Paaidhal adavu
9.Karthari adavu
10.Mei adavu
11.Thattu Mettu
12.Nadai
13.Thaa thai thai thaa
14.Thath thai thaam
15.Thaangidu thath thath dhinna
16.Thaiya thaiyi

The adavus are practiced in three speeds. The adavus are not just movements of the feet but are the coordinated movements of the feet, the hands and the body.

Talking of the hands one would notice the various hand gestures, HASTHAS, used while dancing.

HASTHAS

Click here to read more about Hasthas

Abhinaya

Abhinaya or the facial expression is the mode to convey a sentiment, mood, story or the theme of the song. It is a vast subject with classifications and more classifications explained in the texts.

The initial classification in Abhinaya are:

1. Aangika Abhinaya - the body language (the dance movements)

2. Vaachika Abhinaya - the lyrical content

3. Aahaarya Abhinaya - the costume and jewellery

4. Sathvika Abhinaya - the emotional content

One also finds the Ashtanaayikaa , the heroines/nayikas broadly classified into 8 according to their behaviour and temperaments.

The same holds good for the heroes/nayakas, broadly classified into 4, according to their behaviour and qualities (with divisions and subdivisions)

While speaking of Abhinaya, how can one forget the NAVARASA!!!

NAVARASA - The nine sentiments

1. SHRINGARA -- LOVE

2. HASYA -- MIRTH

3. KARUNA -- COMPASSION

4. ROUDHRA -- ANGER

5. VEERA --- COURAGE

6. BHAYAANAKA --- FEAR

7. BHEEBHATSA --- DISGUST

8. ADHBUTHA --- WONDER

9. SHANTHA --- PEACE

The initial rigorous training is the Nritta - the adavus.

After the child gets proficient, she starts learning the items that constitutes a MARGAM.

The dancer, ofcourse, then increases his/her repertoire.

You will find below, a list of items with the ragam, thalam, composer, deity, language, the mood or the sentiment of these items.

THE MARGAM

1.Alarippu
2.Jathiswaram
3.Sabdham
4.Varnam
5.Padham
6.Javali
7.Thillana