SATTRIYA
It is a beautiful classical dance of Assam Called Sattriya Nritya.
Sattriya Nritya is a genre of dance drama that tells mythical and religious stories
through hand and face expressions. The basic dance unit and exercise of a Sattriya
is called a Mati Akhara,Sattriya Nritya was created by Sankardeva to accompany the
Ankiya Naat (a sort of Assamese one-act drama invented by him), which were mainly
performed in the sattras, as Assam's monasteries are named. As the convention
expanded and evolved with the sattras, the dancing style became known as Sattriya
Nritya.
LAYA
Laya, as the meter is known in ICM
( INDIAN CLASSICALMUSIC), is primarily classified into three major divisions,
namely Vilambit Laya (slow tempo), Madhya Laya (medium tempo) and Drut Laya (fast
tempo), based on the intervallic distances between two beats.in Hindustani
Classical Music use all the three divisions of laya based on the requirement of the
form.
ABHINAYA
Abhinaya is the art of expression in Indian aesthetics. More accurately it means
"leading an audience towards" the experience (bhava) of a sentiment (rasa). The
concept, derived from Bharata Muni's Natya Shastra, is used as an integral part of
all Indian classical dance styles.
Abhinaya can be divided into four, according to the Natya Shastra.
• Aangikam includes the bodily movements, gestures, postures and actions.
• Vaachikam includes voice and speech which constitutes the kavyas and plays.
• Saatwikam includes emotional responses or the saatwika bhavas.
• Aaharyam includes decoration of the body with use of makeup, costumes, garlands
etc.
MATI AKHORA
The Sattriya dance also, as an enduring tradition, has over the centuries as stated
earlier, developed a structural grammar of its own. That structural grammar, which
is the foundation of Sattriya dance, is called “Mati-Akhora”. These Mati-Akhoras
are the basic exercise patterns, also considered as the basic grammatical forms of
Sattriya dance and on the basis of these forms, the structure of the Sattriya dance
has been designed. With the use of these exercise patterns various dance poses are
created, and combining all those poses in different patterns, different dance
numbers have been composed.
In Assamese, generally Mati-Akhora means exercise done on the ground. The Sattriya
dance training begins with these Mati-Akhoras. After completion of all the Mati-
Akhoras, the dancer can be taught the individual dance numbers of Sattriya. Mati-
Akhoras are foundation for the learners to make a healthy physical, mental and
spiritual set-up which is very necessary for a classical dancer.
