I

ndi
anCl
assi
cal
Dances

Excavat
ions,
inscr
ipt
ions,
chronicl
es,
geneal
ogi
esofkingsandart
ist
s,l
i
ter
arysour
ces,
scul
ptur
eandpainti
ngofdiff
erentper
iodspr
ovi
deextensi
veevi
denceondanceinI
ndia.

Contempor
arycl
assi
caldancef
ormshaveevol
vedoutoft
hemusi
cal
playorsangeet
-nat
aka
per
formedfr
om the12t
hcentur
ytothe19t
hcentur
y.

TheIndianclassical
danceshav
etwobasi
caspect
s-Tandav
a(mov
ement&r
hyt
hm)andLasy
a
(
grace,bhava&r asa).

Thethr
eemaincomponent
sar
eNat
ya(
thedr
amat
icel
ementoft
hedancei
.e.t
hei
mit
ati
onof
char
acter
s)

Nr
it
ta(
thedancemov
ement
sint
hei
rbasi
cfor
m)

Nr
it
ya(
expr
essi
onal
componenti
.e.mudr
asorgest
ures)
.

Theniner asasare-Love,Her
oism,Pathos,Humour,Anger
,Fear,Di
sgust
,WonderandPeace.
TheNatyaShast r
awr i
tt
enbyBharatMuni isthemostprominentsour
cefort
heIndi
an
aest
heti
ciansforestabl
ishi
ngthecharact
eristi
csoft
hedances.

Bhar
atnat
yam (
Tami
lNadu)

TheAbhi nayaDarpanabyNandi kesvar

aisoneoft hemainsourcesoft extualmater
ial,
f orthe
studyofthetechniqueandgr ammarofbodymov ementinBharat
natyam Dance.Bhar atnatyam
danceisknownt obeekahar y
a,wher eonedancertakesonmanyr ol
esi nasi ngl
eperformance.
Thedancei nvol
vestransi
tionalmov ementsofleg,hi
pandarm.Expressi veeyemov ement sand
handgesturesareusedt oconv eyemot i
ons.Theaccompany i
ngorchest r
aconsistsofav ocal
ist
,
amr i
dangam player,vi
oli
nistorveenaplayer,
af l
auti
standacymbal player.Thepersonwho
conductst
hedancereci
tat
ionistheNattuvanar
.Init
susual f
ormthedanceisgeneral
l
ybr oken
i
ntosevenmainpart
s–Al ari
ppu,Jat
iswaran,Shabda,Varna,
Pada,Thil
l
anaandSloka.
Bharat
naty
am posesaredepict
edont hegopuramsoft heChidambaram t
emple(TamilNadu)

E.Kri
shnaIyerandRukmini
DeviAr
undal
ehadpl
ayedasi
gni
fi
cantr
olei
nhel
pingt
hedance
regai
nit
slostpopul
ari
tyandposi
ti
on.

Kat
hak(
Nor
thI
ndi
a)

Thewor
dKat
hakhasbeender
ivedf
rom t
hewor
dKat
hawhi
chmeansast
ory
.

Itwasprimaril
yatempl
eorv
il
lageper
for
mancewher
eint
hedancer
snar
rat
edst
ori
esf
rom
anci
entscri
ptures.

Kathakbeganevol
vi
ngi
ntoadi
stinctmodeofdancei
nthef
if
teent
handsi
xteent
hcent
uri
es
wi
ththespreadoft
hebhakt
imovement.

Thel egendsofRadha-
Krishnawereenactedinf
olkplayscall
edrasali
la,
whichcombinedf
olk
dancewi t
ht hebasi
cgesturesoft
hekathakstor
y-t
ell
ers.Undert
heMughal emperor
sandthei
r
nobles,Kathakwasperf
ormedi nt
hecourt,wher
eitacquiredi
tspresentf
eatur
esanddevel
oped
i
ntoaf orm ofdancewi t
hadi st
inctiv
est y
le.UnderthepatronageofWaj i
dAl iShah,thelast
NawabofAwadh, i
tgrewintoamaj orartform.Usuallyasoloperformance, t
hedancerof t
en
pausest orecit
eversesfol
lowedbyt hei
rexecuti
onthroughmov ement .Thef ocusismor eon
foot
wor k;themov ementsareskil
lful
lycontrol
ledandper f
ormedst rai
ghtleggedbydancer s
wearingankle-bel
l
s.Kathakistheonl yform ofcl
assicaldanceweddedt oHi ndustaniorthe
NorthIndianmusic.LadyLeelaSokhey( Menaka)r evi
vedtheclassicalst
yle.Somepr omi nent
dancersincludeBirj
uMahar aj
,Sit
araDev i.

Kat
hakal
i(Ker
ala)

Chaki
arkoot
hu,Koodi
yat
tam,
Krishnatt
am andRamanat
tam ar
efewofther i
tualper
for
mingar
ts
ofKer
alawhichhavehadadi
rectinf
luenceonKat
hakal
ii
nitsfor
m andtechnique.

Kathakal
ii
sablendofdance,musi
candact
inganddr
amat
izesst
ori
es,
whi
char
emost
ly
adaptedfr
om t
heIndi
anepics.

Heav
ymake-
upandst
unni
ngcost
umes(
elabor
atemasks,
hugeski
rt
sandbi
ghead-
dresses)
ar
eused.

Thedancersenactther
oles(
kings,
gods,demonsetc.
)ofthestor
ieswi
thpart
icul
armake-
up
andcostume,thevocal
i
stsnar
ratethel
egendandthepercussi
oni
stspl
aythemusical
i
nst
rument
s.

Di
ff
erentfaci
alcolour
sindi
catedi
ffer
entment
alst
ages&char
act
er,
e.g.gr
een–nobi
l
ity
,bl
ack
wi
cked,redpatches–combi ni
ngroyal
ty&evi
l
.

Handgest ur
es,faci
alexpr
essi
onsandeyemov ementsar
eimport
ant.Wei
ghtoft
hebodyi
son
theouteredgesofthefeetwhi
charesli
ght
lybentandcur
ved.Ramankut
tyNai
rand
Kalamandalam Gopiwerethepromi
nentar
ti
sts.

Kuchi
pudi
(Andhr
aPr
adesh)

Kuchi
pudiist
henameofav il
l
agei
ntheKr
ishnadi
str
ictofAndhr
aPr
adeshwhi
chhasav
ery
l
ongtr
adit
ionofdance-
drama.

Itwasknownunderthegeneri
cnameofYakshagaana.In17t
hcentur
yKuchi
pudist
yleof
Yakshagaanawasconcei
vedbySiddhendraYogi
.Hewassteepedi
nthel
it
erar
yYakshagaana
tr
adit
ionbeinggui
dedbyhi
sguruTeerthanaar
aayanaYogi
whocomposedtheKri
shna-
Leel
atarangi
ni,
akaavy
ainSanskr
it.

I
tisper for
medasdancedr amai.e.perf
ormancei ngroupsandal soassol
oitems.Costumes,
ornament sandjewell
eryoccupyani mportantplace.Thesoloit
emsar eMandukaShabdam
(stor
yoff rogmaiden)
,Balgopal
aTar anga( danceont heedgesofbrasspl
atewithapit
cherful
l
ofwat eronhead)andTalaChi t
raNr i
tya(drawingpictur
eswithdancingt
oes).Yami
ni
Kr
ishnamur
thyandRaj
aReddyar
epr
omi
nentdancer
s.

Mohi
niy
att
am (
Ker
ala)

Mohi
niyat
tam ordanceofMohi
ni(
ani
ncar
nat
ionofLor
dVi
shnu)i
sthecl
assi
cal
sol
odance
f
orm ofKeral
a.

Refer
encesofMohi
niy
att
am canbefoundi
nthetext
sVyavaharamal
awrit
teni
n1709by
Mazhamagal
am Nar
ayananNamputi
riandi
nGhoshayat
ra,
wr i
tt
enlat
erbypoetKunj
anNambi
ar.

I
twasst r
uctur
edint
ot hepresentdaycl
assi
calf
ormatbyt heTravancor
eKings,Maharaj
a
Kar
tikaTi
runalandhissuccessorMaharaj
aSwatiTi
runal(18t
h-19thcent
ury)Mostlyasol
o
per
formancebygirl
swi t
hcircul
armovements,
deli
catefootst
epsandsubt l
eexpressi
ons.

Movementshav
ebeenbor
rowedf
rom Nangi
arKoot
huandf
emal
efol
kdancesKai
kot
ti
kal
iand
t
heTir
uvat
ir
akal
i.

Ithasel ementsofBharat
anaty
am (
grace&elegance)andKathakal
i(v
igour
)buti
smor eeroti
c,
l
y r
icalanddelicat
e.Reali
sti
cmake-
upandsimpledressing(i
nKasavusareeofKeral
a)areused.
Thel y
ricsareinManipraval
a(amediev
alsouthI
ndianlanguagecombini
ngTamil-
Malayal
am
andSanskr it
).

SunandaNai
randPal
l
avi
Kri
shnanar
ethenot
abl
ear
ti
sts.

Odi
ssi
(Odi
sha)
Themajorsubject
sofperf
ormancear
elor
esofi
ncar
nat
ionsofLor
dVi
shnuandv
ersesof
Jayadev
a’sGit
aGov i
nda.

Asoftdancebackedbysoot
hingl
yri
csandi
ssi
mil
art
oBhar
atanat
yam i
nter
msoft
hemudr
as
andexpr
essi
ons.

Ter
medas‘mobi
lesculpt
ure’
iti
ncor
poratestwomajorpost
ures-Tri
bhanga(
thebodyi
s
def
lect
edatt
heneck,
torsoandtheknees)andChowk(apositi
onimit
ati
ngasquar
e).

Sonal
Mansi
nghandKel
uchar
anMohapat
raar
etheemi
nentper
for
mer
s.

Sat
tri
ya(
Assam)
TheSatt
ri
yadancef
orm wasintr
oducedi
nthe15thcenturyA.DbytheVaishnavasaintand
ref
ormerofAssam,
Sankaradev
aasamedi um f
orpropagati
onoftheVaishnavafai
th.

Thedanceform evol
vedandexpandedasadi
sti
ncti
vestyl
eofdancelat
eron.Becauseofi
ts
rel
i
giouschar
acterandassoci
ati
onwitht
heSat
tras(Vai
shnav
amat hsormonasteri
es),
thi
s
dancesty
lehasbeennamedSat t
riy
a.

Mani
pur
i(Mani
pur
)
Theori
ginofMani
pur
idancecanbet
racedbackt
oanci
entt
imest
hatgobey
ondr
ecor
ded
hi
stor
y.

ThedanceinManipuri
sassoci
atedwi
thr
it
ual
sandt
radi
ti
onalf
est
ival
s,ther
earel
egendar
y
ref
erencest
othedancesofShi
vaandPar
vati
andot
hergodsandgoddesseswhocreat
edthe
uni
verse.

LaiHaraobaistheear
li
estf
orm ofdancewhichf
ormsthebasisofal
lst
yli
seddancesi
n
Manipur.Li
ter
all
ymeaning-themerry
makingofthegods,
iti
sperfor
medasacer emoni
al
off
eri
ngofsonganddance.

Thepri
nci
palperformer
sarethemaibasandmaibi
s(pr
iest
sandpri
est
esses)whoreenactt
he
themeofthecreati
onoftheworl
d.Thepopul
arRasl
eel
adancesofManipuror
igi
nat
edinthe
rei
gnof18thcenturyKi
ngBhagyachandr
a.

Manipurdancehasalargerepert
oir
e,however,
themostpopul
arfor
msaretheRas,
the
Sanki
rtanaandtheThang-Ta.TheKirt
anfor
m ofcongr
egati
onalsi
ngi
ngaccompani
esthe
dancewhichisknownasSanki r
tanainManipur.

Themal
edancer
splaythePungandKart
alwhil
edancing.Thedancersdonotwearankl
ebel
l
s
tost
ampoutt
herhy
t hmsinatheat
ri
cal
displ
ay,ast
hisinter
fer
eswiththedel
icat
ebody
movement
s.