In Indian Culture, dance, music, poetry, painting and sculpture are all considered sacred and designed to illuminate the path leading to the Ultimate Reality or God-realization.

The peculiar flavor of India's artistic heritage, says famed dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai, is worship through every symbol known to mankind. The artist was, in this sense, the seeker after the highest wisdom.Indian dance is an eloquent expression of an ancient civilization whose timeless wisdom continues to evoke the passionate search of man for conscious identity with God. There is a reference to God as Dancer in the Rig Veda that establishes both the sacredness and antiquity of Indian Dance.

Nadaraja, the symbol of the dance, is a form of Lord Shiva, who again is the symbol of the universal creative force. The four hands of Nadaraja, the cosmic dancer, signify his four divine activities: creation, preservation, destruction and liberation. The right hand holds the drum, for nadam or sound was the first element in the universe from which flowed all language, music and literature.Sound is the cause and the universe the effect.The drum causes vibration that symbolises creation. The lower right hand held in a gesture of tender solicitude is the hand of divine protection, the promise of salvation. One left hand holds a tongue of flame symbolizing divine knowledge with which all evil and ignorance can be destroyed. The other left hand points to the foot, lifted and released as the other foot stamps out ignorance shown as the dwarf Muyalakan or Andhakasuran.This hand indicates the way to enlightenment or liberation. It indicates the profound teaching: Be in the world, but be not of the world. Nadaraja is Pure Consciousness.His dance is to lead the souls into this Pure Existence.The image of Nadaraja depicts the eternal wisdom transmitted through the arts.

The famous dancer Mrs. Mrinalini Sarabhai says :

"All dances were sacred offerings to the Lord, and through the myriad forms, the relationship of the cultural patterns of the dance and its fundamental unity is apparent.Yet, each one had a separate identity. Man, confronted with powers that he could not comprehend, sought refuge in myths in order to link himself with the universal unseen worlds. Through the dance, he attuned himself to the cosmos and found within his body a source of transcendental Power that became the timeless truth."

Dance as a form of worship, was then performed in temples and found great patronage from kings. The What, Why and How of all Natyam activity was codified for the first time by sage Bharata and his Natya Sastram remains the most authentic compendium on every department of stage and theater.

Indian dance is unique in that it embodies both the vigorous and masculine Tandavam and the tender and graceful Lasya, which represent the Purusha-Prakriti - the Principle of Indian cosmology.

Abhinayam, or expression of emotion, is the basis for all dances, which is presented as drama.Indeed, all ancient dances were in the form of dance-drama. Abhinayam can be categorized under four heads: Mukha-abhinayam (facial expression), Angika-abhinayam (expression through body movements), Aharya-abhinayam (expression through costume and make-up) and Vachika-abhinayam (expression through word). A traditionally produced dance-drama employs all the four kinds of expression and achieves dramatic harmony.

In course of time, the particular pieces of dance presented to highlight particular emotions (rasas) were taken out of popular plays for presentation at solo recitals. These solo dances, according to Mr V. Patanjali, a dance critic, came to be generally recognized as schools of Indian dance exposing the characteristic historico-cultural features of certain regions in India. The main styles of dances are: the Bharathanatyam, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Odissi and Manipuri.

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Bharathanatyam

Bharathanatyam is perhaps the oldest among the dance- styles of India. It is no doubt the most popular school of dance in India and amongst a large segment of the Malaysian population. The Bharatha is derived from three essential aspects of the art: "Bha" from Bhavam (expression), "ra" from Ragam (melody/ musical mode) and the "tha" from Thalam (time measure).

Union with God

Bharathanatyam attempts to portray through rhythmic movement, facial expression and symbolic gestures, the spiritual awakening of the human soul and its longing for enlightenment. With its devotional undertones and attractive techniques, it is a systemic exploration of man's relation with himself, nature and God. Says famous dancer Mrs. Mrinalini Sarabhai:

"The Gods, who are the supreme examples of human realization, are adored, praised and supplicated in every song and the dancer is the instrument through which a prayer is made real and given outer expression. All achievement is but through the grace of the Gods and it is they who are the primary Gurus: Shiva is the God of the Dance in his manifestation as Nadaraja; Saraswathi, Goddess of Learning, is the mother of music; Parvathi is the first teacher of the graceful dance form called Lasya, as opposed to the virile Tandavam of Nadaraja. Krishna is the celestial flute-player and dancer, as also the embodiment of the erotic sentiment".

Bharathanatyam is one of the most subtle, sophisticated and graceful styles of dance art in the world.

Origin of Bharathanatyam

It is one of the proudest possessions in our heritage, having survived for nearly 3,000 years, almost intact, in all the variegated splendor of the forms and moods, which it has gathered through the centuries. Bharathanatyam originated from Tamil Nadu.It is performed mostly as a solo dance. Dance teachers called Nattuvanars and ritualistic dances called Devadasis, in the temples of India, have handed it down through the centuries. Devadasis were a class of girls who were dedicated to temple service from an early age.

Though beginning as a ritual, the dance form developed into a sophisticated style.This style is well described in the classic book the "Cilapathikaram" (AD 171).

It is generally believed the dance was given its present secular format during the early 19th century by the great dance teachers Chinnayya, Ponnayya, Vadivelu and Sivanandam of Tanjavur.

Features of Bharathanatyam

"The distinctive features of Bharathanatyam are a noble angularity of line, precise and forceful footwork and vivacious and constantly changing expressions to project the totality of the range of a single emotion. Its sculpturesque poses are reminiscent of the terpsichorean figures chiseled on the many temples and pillars of south India," says Mr V.Patanjali.

The beauty of Bharathanatyam is the absolute discipline it imposes and literally extracts from the artist.

The rapidly repeated movements are a recurrent series of alternate stillness and movement.One moment it is all stillness - a vibrant stillness pregnant with leashed and latent energy - and the next moment is the release, an explosion of controlled and cascading energy - precise, purposeful and incisive.

Says Mohan Khokar, a great exponent of Bharathanatyam:

"The technique of Bharathanatyam allows the body of the dancer to revel in the glory of its own being, of its own form.Responding to the rhythm the dancer unwinds one vibrant kinetic phrase after another, the entire being backed by a severe regimentation both in practice and in performance. Bharathanatyam carries the qualities of both geometry and architecture.The line, the angle, the Proportion, the symmetry, all play a decisive role in the building of the edifice, which is why the style has a chiseled perfection, the rendering a refreshing crispness."

Training

Bharathanatyam training begins with the learning of the basic dance steps called "Adavus".

"Once the adavus are mastered, usually over a period of one year, these are combined into jatis, theermanas or aridis. A series of jatis are recited and these syllables are called "sollukattus" very similar to the language of the drum. The pupil studies each step through the direction of the dance teachers who beat out the rhythm on the wooden block with a rhythm stick.The jatis are the dance units of Bharathanatyam," says Mrs. Sarabhai.

The training period normally lasts about seven years after which the dancer gives her first performance that is called the "Arangaetram".

The Bharathanatyam Repertoire

The repertoire of Bharathanatyam is extensive but we generally see Alarippu (invocation in pure dance), Jatiswaram (pure dance set to music but no song), Sabdam (interpretative dance with music and song), Varnam (presenting the cream of the dance art), Padams (lyrical devotional songs for intensive abhinayam exposition) and Thillana (a sprightly item with brisk rhythms and movement).

Mrs. Mrinalini Sarabhai gives us a good description of these below:

"The Alarippu is a prayer to the Gods, to the gurus, the vidwans (scholars) and the audience.Only rhythmic syllables are uttered with the mrithangam (drum) and the jaira (cymbals).It is almost like the introduction into the form or pattern of the dance. In Alarippu, the chanting of the syllables can be compared to the recitation in temple worship".

"The Jatiswaram is created in any ragam, and all the manifold patterns of thalam are incorporated within a given framework.Here the dancer executes varied rhythms to the same pattern of musical notes in the chosen ragam. The Jatiswaram has no sahitya (verbal) passages, but uses only the svaras musical notes in various Ragam".

"The sabdam is a song describing the glory of God.The dancer, being the devotee, praises God through her expression and movement.Expression or abhinayam is an important feature of Bharathanatyam for the dancer imparts to her audience the theme mood of her song. Not only should she be well-versed in the actual meaning of the words, but should comprehend the deep emotion and experience of its Shastric (classical) and traditional content and background".

"In the next item, the varnam, the intricate technique of Bharathanatyam is visibly portrayed. Whereas in other techniques, there are many actors and dancers, in Bharathanatyam a solo dancer has to interpret by herself an entire story with no other aid but the movements of her body, the ever-changing expressiveness of her face and the gestures of her hands. She has to portray to her audience both the lyrical and dramatic quality of the emotional content of the story she tells.The varnam is literally the color of Bharathanatyam. It is the greatest of all dance Compositions, the superb culmination of the subtlety of this elevating art".

"After the varnam the tempo slows down, but the dancer has to evoke all her imagination and creativity in interpreting the various songs or padams. Here the inner emotions of the mind with its human approach to the Divine are presented with significant and creative movement.Every dancer searches for and interprets her own perception of situations and the audience is the rasike (connoisseur), who experience the intensity of her individual concept".

"The Thillana, which is a rhythmic dance, brings out the full beauty of an abstract dance creation.Many of the poses are those of the sculptures on temple walls and the rhythmic structure is intricate. All the dance korvais are shown and the endings become faster and faster in brilliant combinations. The promise of the alarippu is fulfilled in the thillana.The recital ends with a slokam in praise of the deity".

"A Bharathanatyam recital leads the dancer and the audience into a realm of deep mysticism, when the devotee searches for the highest truth, in the dynamic movement that is dance."

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