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| Wednesday, 11 February 2004 |
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Dance then and now by Subashini Pathmanathan
Bharatha Natyam evolved out of Sathir. Sathir and Bharatha Natyam are based on Natya Sastra of Bharatha Muni. In any dance form with the passage of time some dances were excluded, and some dances included. So too in Bharatha Natyam certain traditional dance items were excluded and some new items were included. However, in Bharatha Natyam even today for instance, neck movements, eye movements, body positions, foot positions, muthras, abinayas, remain the same. All Indian classical dance forms are based on Natya Sastra, but are subject to local, regional, linguistic, cultural, and religious influences. These eventually blossomed into local classical dances. Most of these regional classical dances adopted their own music and sollukattus. Works on dance after Bharata Muni are many. A few could be taken into consideration. Devendiran had written a thesis on Lassiya called 'Sangeetha Mukthavali', in which he mentioned numerous dances which were in vogue in his time. Some of them were Pushpanjali, Mukasaali, Sabtham, Sabthasaali, Sabtha Sadareetham, Pirapantha Narthanam, Sinthu, Tharu, and Tharu Patham. But most of them are not in use today. Marathi King Thulaja Maharaja had written in or around 1710 A.D. a thesis called Sangeetha Saaramirtham. He described numerous Adavus, namely Thattu Adavu, Kuthu Adavu, Naate Thatt Adavu, Thatti Nett Adavu, and Anukgraga Adavu. Most of these Adavus area still in use under the same name, same forms or almost similar to the present Adavus, but under slightly different names. According to 12th century A.D. inscription the term adavu denotes Pure Nirtha. Even today in Bharatha Natyam the word Advau is considered as Pure Nirtha. Repertoire The Tanjore Quartette is believed to have laid down the repertoire of Sathir which was eventually followed even in Bharatha Natyam. Still the same repertoire is followed mainly in Bharatha Natya arengetrams. Abinaya Darpanam written by Nandikeswarar provides a wealth of information on dance and various nuances of dance. For instance, the hand muthras which are used in Bharatha Natyam today are almost the same, as that described in Abinaya Darpanam. A commentary written by Adiyarku Naallar on Silapathykaram in the 13th century A.D, explains two categories of muthras. One is Tholill Kai (working hands), and the other is Elill Kai (beautiful hands). Even today the muthras used in abinaya could be considered as Tholill Kai because the purpose of these muthras are to expound or interpret the meaning of the song. Beauty The Elill Kai (beautiful hands) which are considered as Nirtha Muthras or Nirtha Hasthas today. These muthras were used to enhance the beauty of the Adavus, without interpreting any meaning. Even today these muthras in Bharatha Natyam are intended merely to show the beauty of the Pure Nirtha Adavus. Altogether there are nearly 13 muthras included in the category of Nirtha Muthras or Adavu Muthras (some single hand muthras and some double hand muthras are included in this category). The patterns of dresses of Bharatha Natya dancers resemble almost the ancient temple dancers' dresses. The ancient Devadasees considered themselves as the brides of the gods. Therefore, they dressed their heads like brides, still in Bharatha Natyam. The Bharatha Natya dancers follow the same head and hair dressing as the ancient Devadasees. In ancient times the musical base of dance was the Pun Isai. But today the music of Bharatha Natyam is pure classical Carnatic music. Yet there is a strong relationship between the classical Carnatic music of today and ancient Pun Isai. **** Back **** |
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