Blair Khoker
Religion and the Arts
Professor Wendy Raver
December 16th, 2013
Bharata Natyam
The word “Bharata” comes from a combination of three main elements in Indian dance; Mood (bhava), melody (raga), and rhythmic timing (tala). The word “Natyam” means both dancing and acting. Bharata Natyam is from South Indian, specifically Tamil Nad. This dance style has been preserved mostly in the beautiful ancient temples and areas of Tanjore and Madras. South India has many sculptures of Gods and Goddesses who are lavishly decorated and ornamented and who show the art, religion, and culture of the country. Enakshi Bhavani describes these beautiful shrines and religious areas as being “an atmosphere of ancient India linger[ing] with a compelling fragrance” (28). Where this dance style originated is very important to how it is viewed today in modern times and western societies. In India, there are still ancient areas in which the traditions and teachings of Bharata Natyam are being studied, but how these teachings evolved into modern society is important in understanding its religious impact on the Indian community. Bharata Natyam embodies three basic aspects of classical Indian dancing; The pure dance, dance embodying an expressive mood and dance containing a dramatic element.
It must be strongly emphasized that Bharata Natyam in its true and proper form is studied in a very intense manner. In some cultures the dance is done to invoke gods and enact mythological events. The dancers go through immense amounts of training in order to be able to control every muscle in their body. The technical ingredients for physical mastery are swiftness, precision, suppleness, strength, instincts for time, agility, and lightness; but, one of the most i...
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...yday lives and into a spellbound state of beauty.
In the Bharata Natyam the dance techniques of pure dance consists of a number of combinations of postures. These combinations include the movement and coordination of the body, waist, arm, hand, leg, foot, head, and neck to various sets of words and beats. Beautiful gestures and arm positions combine to form the general beauty of posture. There are about 120 basic dance arrangements which can be further combined into hundreds of varieties of patterned dance movements. Although, dancers usually learn about forty to seventy basic movements and then study the intricate dances that include them.
A recital or individual performance can go from one and a half hours to four hours long. Every performance in made up of the following parts (given in sequence), Alarippu, Jethiswaram, Shabdam,Varnam, Padam(s), and Thillana.
Nijhawan, Amita. "Excusing the female dancer: Tradition and transgression in Bollywood dancing." South Asian Popular Culture 7.2 (2009): 99-112. EBSCOhost.
In the beginning the dancers start out standing completely still and gradually sit down in a chair, with their heads facing down, which brings their upper bodies into a hunched over position. A few seconds later they quickly fling their upper bodies up into the air, taking them out of their seats, and then gently sit back down. When the dancers are on their chairs, their bodies tense up and with their heads facing down as if gravity and pressure weigh down the dancers, restricting them. The dancers free themselves as they break through confinement and jolt their bodies up out
This dance they get into nature by way of rhythm and it can make your body
Howse, J & McCormack, M 2009, Anatomy, Dance Technique & Injury Prevention, A & C Publishers Ltd, London.
In the piece the dancer is very distinctive and powerful in his movements. He often holds positions in an asymmetry stance which is a quality that comes from balancing ephebism. Ephebism is one of the five African aesthetics that applies vitality, power, flexibility, drive, and attack in its movements. The holding of the various positions requires great strength and demonstrates a stamina that is similar to the strength and stamina needed for the long hours that African dances are held for. Granted, the stamina and strength for African dances requires a much longer building period, however, training one’s body to hold and sustain an unnatural position is no small feat. In addition to this one characteristic of ephebism, the dancer’s arm movements throughout the piece adhere to an attack like jolting or sharp movement and further enhance the component of ephebism by creating the youthful movements that word ephebism correlates to. The flexibility in this dance piece is seen dramati...
Kathak (Sanskrit translation: ‘Katha’- story; ‘Katthaka’- story-teller) can be traced to as far back as the 3rd century and is one of the eight Classical dances in India. It originated in Northern India -Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar-Pradesh. It was originally performed in temples to narrate mythological stories presented in the Ramayana and Mahabharata with mimetic gestures and singing. ‘Katthakas’ were mostly high-caste, educated Brahmins. Nowadays, class division is less intruding in one’s pursuit of becoming a ‘Katthaka’.
Presenting a recital for the public is a daunting task. It exacts from the performer a number of skills which must come together at the exact hour of the performance. I like to think of the solo recital as the musical equivalent to the athletic triathlon. In the case of the recital, the three areas that must come into complete alignment by the recital date are musical expression, mental focus, and physical preparedness.
Bollywood film has opened the gates to Bollywood dance, creating a popular style that spread throughout the world. This style would not have been able to spread so quickly if it not had been for the familiar themes and culture found in the genre. Because of this diverse make-up, Bollywood dance is being questioned, for it cannot be seen as traditional Indian dance if it is made up of so many different cultures and styles. Due to the creation from a wide assortment of cultures and practices, Bollywood dance has been the subject of a controversy focusing on its authenticity. Although it is not pure Indian movements, it has become the face of Indian dance due to accessibility and familiarity.
After I began to learn to dance ballet, I found out that these elegant movements actually require a lot of strength, flexibility of the bodies and brain’s participation to make it looked elegant. The dancers’ movements in the performance were so fluent and elegant and it is not hard to imagine how hard they had practiced, stretched and use the strengths to do all the ballet poses with their bodies look longer and longer. Their expressions also impressed me a lot. By looking at their expressions, the audience can easily understand the scenes and blend into the story. The performers actually not only are required to have good dancing skills but also are required to have some talents to be actors. Moreover, they also have to be good at expressing their feelings on the
Surya Namaskar is a set of six movements to be repeated in reverse. Follow it up with the pictures in the same sequence:
People often think that dance isn't very good exercise . And I want to prove them wrong because dance isn't just as good exercise but it also can better than other exercise in many ways and this paper will show why it is good to exercise and why dance can be better or as good exercise as other exercise. Also different kinds of exercise can impact different parts of the body and it is good to find a balance so someone can be fit in there whole body not just one part, however Also it is good to find the right kind of exercise for each person's goals.
Like many Indian arts, Indian dance also has its root in religion. Without the religious and cultural background of India, the growth and beauty of Indian dance is not possible. In ‘Natya Shastra’, there is a small story about the origin of Indian dance. According to Hindu mythology, dance first existed in heaven. There was always a constant conflict between the Asuras and the Devas for wealth and power. The Devas were tired of the Asuras’ greediness and jealousy.
Dance is communication through physical expression, although the type of expression and frequency differs vastly from culture to culture. Belly dance has an interesting history, one that dancer and instructor Susan Diamond states started “thousands of years ago” (Diamond, Belly Dancing). Today, however, belly dancing is gaining popularity and there are many different “branches” of the dance form that have evolved over merging two or more dance forms. While researching belly dance I found that my particular “flavor” happens to be Tribal Fusion.
Another example equally as potent and yet sadly overlooked by many particularly those outside India is that of Kathak. A classical Indian dance, today held in great esteem among the 6 great classical dances of India, 21st century Kathak combines incredibly complex technique and elegant, slow abhinaya (or story telling) and owes almost the entirety of its current day form to the Mughals. The transformation that Kathak underwent from its original form to how we see it today that occurred during Mughal Era is perhaps the most underestimated and truest remaining symbol of the vibrant Indo-Islamic cultural melding that occurred under the patronage of the Mughals, and to...
The purpose of this essay aims at analysing and comparing the historical background and current context of Malay Dance, an uncharted dance culture. The essay will investigate the general dance elements evident in Malay Dance, and the different historical and socio-cultural influences on its development. The primary source and basis of this essay is the Malay Dance Workshop conducted by Mdm Som Said.