Dance and Music are external manifestations of Man’s emotions and thoughts and it has been said that “the truest expression of a people lies in its dance and its music - bodies never lie!”

Art in India has, in the past, always been a form of worship. The tradition of classical Indian Dance goes back to just before the beginning of the Common Era. In India dance has been used to express man’s deepest emotions and state of mind. Born and nurtured within the precincts of the temple, Bharatha Natyam, has for its source the rich treasury of Hindu sacral lore of which it is one exquisite medium of expression. It is meditation in motion, emphasizing concentration and discipline. This dance form combines the arts of the stage, music, and poetry with pleasing color and vivacious rhythm. All forms of classical Indian Dance consider the two ancient Sanskrit texts Natya Shastra and Abhinaya Darpana as their source. The former was compiled by the sage Bharata and the dance form Bharatha Natyam logically derives its name from him. Over the centuries this dance form with variations has spread to Malaysia, Thailand, Bali and Cambodia. In India it still continues its unbroken thread of tradition.

Bharatha Natyam is a highly stylized and esoteric art form and is devotional in spirit and characterized by a harmonious balance of vocal melody, specific hand gestures and body movements of the dancer -  all governed by specific mood, rhythm and beat. The most important aspect of Bharatha Natyam is the language of hand gestures – the Hastas - which suggest a world of enchantment. The dancer’s technique involves the use of the entire body to the smallest eye muscles. Footwork, hand gestures and facial expression confer on this art form the quality of a moving poem! The singer is accompanied by a percussionist, flautist, violin and sometimes a stringed instrument called the Veena. The conductor called the Nattuvanar co-ordinates the beat and tempo of the dance using two small cymbals.

The dance itself consists of two salient features – the pure dance form termed Nritta which serves solely to emphasize the aesthetic aspect of movement and posture, and Natya the interpretive and narrative component.  The latter is presented through the medium of expression called Abhinaya.

This art form was a perennial source of entertainment for the common folk in India in the centuries gone by. A kaleidoscopic presentation of melodious music, esthetically appealing dance, and narration of uplifting themes from Hindu sacral lore, a Bharatha Natyam performance was indeed a feast for the eye, ear and the spirit. The performers and the audience, bonded together temporarily by common emotions, almost became an unified entity. This has been very beautifully expressed by Kalidasa, the famous Sanskrit dramatist in the fifth century C.E., in one of his plays while describing the performance of the dancer thus

“…her limbs are like incarnate words, beat and rhythm issuing forth from her feet, while on her face expression chases fleeting expression – no more an individual dancer or musician but only a composite of aesthetics and feeling….”

There are at least six exquisite styles of Bharatha Natyam in India and a relatively recent one is the Kalakshetra style which is taught exclusively at the Nritya School of Dance. This dynamic and brisk style emphasizes the linear and geometrical in movement. The expressions and mime are subtle, covert and suggestive rather than obvious.

 
                                                                                                       (Photo Credits:  Navin Mediwalla)