Bharatnatyam

News:Recently,the central government’s Centre for Cultural Resources and Training(CCRT) has provided Scholarships to two Bharatnatyam Dancers.

Facts:

About:

• Bharatnatyam Dance is considered to be over 2000 years old originating in the Tanjore district in Tamil Nadu.It is one among the eight classical dances of India.
• Sources:Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra and Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara.
• The dance was kept alive by the devadasis who were young girls gifted by their parents to the temples and who were married to the gods.
• E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale had played a significant role in helping the dance regain its lost popularity and position.

Features of the Dance:

• Bharatnatyam dance is known to be ekaharya where one dancer takes on many roles in a single performance.
• The dance is generally broken into several main parts such as Alarippu, Jatiswaran, Shabdam, Varnam, Padams , Thillana and mangalam.
• The dance involves transitional movements of leg, hip and arm. Expressive eye movements and hand gestures are used to convey emotions.
• The accompanying orchestra consists of a vocalist, a mridangam player, violinist or veena player, a flautist and a cymbal player.The person who conducts the dance recitation is the Nattuvanar.