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    Natya Shastra

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    Gaganpreet Kaur Fashion Designing
    Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is one of India's oldest dance traditions, with roots tracing back to ancient texts like the Vedas. Bharatanatyam tells stories and communicates Hindu religious themes through precise poses, facial expressions, and hand gestures accompanied by Carnatic music. Performances typically last around two hours and include different dance styles presented in a structured order to depict narratives from Hindu epics and mythology.

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    Natya Shastra

    Uploaded by

    Gaganpreet Kaur Fashion Designing
    333 views10 pages
    Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is one of India's oldest dance traditions, with roots tracing back to ancient texts like the Vedas. Bharatanatyam tells stories and communicates Hindu religious themes through precise poses, facial expressions, and hand gestures accompanied by Carnatic music. Performances typically last around two hours and include different dance styles presented in a structured order to depict narratives from Hindu epics and mythology.

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    Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is one of India's oldest dance traditions, with roots tracing back to ancient texts like the Vedas. Bharatanatyam tells stories and communicates Hindu religious themes through precise poses, facial expressions, and hand gestures accompanied by Carnatic music. Performances typically last around two hours and include different dance styles presented in a structured order to depict narratives from Hindu epics and mythology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    333 views10 pages

    Natya Shastra

    Uploaded by

    Gaganpreet Kaur Fashion Designing
    Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form that originated in Tamil Nadu in southern India. It is one of India's oldest dance traditions, with roots tracing back to ancient texts like the Vedas. Bharatanatyam tells stories and communicates Hindu religious themes through precise poses, facial expressions, and hand gestures accompanied by Carnatic music. Performances typically last around two hours and include different dance styles presented in a structured order to depict narratives from Hindu epics and mythology.

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    ●

    THIS DANCE IS A METAPHOR FOR THE BELIEF THAT LIFE


    IS ESSENTIALLY A DYNAMIC BALANCING OF GOOD AND
    BAD, WHERE OPPOSITES ARE INTERDEPENDENT.”

    Bharatanatyam is a traditional dance-form known for its


    grace , purity, tenderness and sculpturesque poses. Today it
    is one of the most popular and widely performed dance style
    and its practiced by male and female dancers all over India
    and abroad.The origin and antiquity of Indian classic dance
    form Bharatanatyam can be traced back to the Vedas and to
    the figure of the dancing girl in Mohen-jo-Daro.The sculpture
    evidences from the 5 th century onwards reveal various
    changes and development. It has its roots in Tamilnadu, a
    state of Southern India.
    Bharatanatyam (pronounced ba-rata-na-tiam) is a classical
    dance style from South India performed by both men and
    women. It is called the "fifth veda", and is widely considered to
    be the oldest dance form in India. It is one of the most highly
    refined developed systems of dance, and is recorded as far
    back as the 9th century, although it was known as Sadir until
    the early 1900’s. The name Bharatanatyam is explained two
    different ways. The first is that it is composed of related words:
    ● BHAva (expression)
    ● RAga (melodic mode)
    ● TAla (rhythm)
    ● NATYAM (dance)
    COSTUMING
    Bharatanatyam is a very demanding art form especially recognized by it’s sculptural poses,
    rhythmic footwork, and intricate hand and eye movements. The costuming is also distinct. The
    dancers wear bells around their ankles to accent the footwork, jewelry around their waist and
    neck at a minimum), and makeup to enhance the eye and facial expressions. The costumes are
    designed for freedom of movement and to showcase the signature half-seated posture (called
    aria mandi or ardhamandal) so characteristic of Bharatanatyam dance. The costumes can either
    be a sari (wrapped in various ways) or they can be stitched from sari fabric. The most common
    style of stitched costume consists of 3+ pieces for males, 4 pieces for children, and 5 pieces for
    females:

    ● a pair of loose pants


    ● a large pleated length of fabric that attaches to the inseam of the pants – this creates a
    beautiful fan between the dancer’s legs during any half-seated or full-seated postures
    ● a sash that goes around the waist
    ● a choli blouse (women and children)
    ● a sash that covers the choli blouse (women)
    MUSIC
    Bharatanatyam is performed to traditional South Indian Carnatic music. In addition to a
    singer, some common instruments are violin, mrudangam double headed drum), and
    flute.
    The dance itself is largely a storytelling dance. Most of the stories are from the epics and Hindu mythology. The
    intimate association with Hindu religion from its origins as a temple dance has been preserved through the
    centuries.
    The dancer uses poses, facial expressions, and hand movements to communicate the story to the audience. Like
    fresco painting in Christian churches, the original purpose of Bharatanatyam was to educate the public about the
    scriptures. Because of its intricacy and specificity, Bharatanatyam could be used to tell any story in any language.
    Bharatanatyam performances are about 2 hours long and the dances are generally performed in a specific order:

    ● Pushpanjali
    ● Alarippu
    ● Jatiswaram
    ● Shabdam
    ● Varnam
    ● Padam
    ● Tillana
    ● Managalam

    The dance is composed of sets of movements called adavus. When sets of adavus are combined, they create
    korvais. The movements and adavus are the same for men and women. There are three major elements to the
    dance: Nritta, Nritya, and Natya.

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