Oriental dances are sacred forms

Subashini PATHMANATHAN

The oriental dance forms have firm and strong and rigid links with classical, folk and ritual dance forms. All these dance forms are associated with long-standing religious, regional practices, regional customs, and regional traditions. Each Eastern nation is having its own classical dance forms, own folk dance forms, and own regional ritual dance forms which are rich in culture and nature.

All these dance forms try their best to stick to their own social religious, regional culture, and linguistic norms. Most of the traditional, classical dance teachers, and performers; the present folkdance teachers' and performers; and the traditional ritual dance teachers' and performers; are still taking maximum pains to preserve their old age culture, and their performing dance forms.

Classical dance, folk dance, and ritual dance have certain norms, and these dances provide equal opportunity for creativity, within a limited frame work. Every classical, folk and ritual dance has certain defined and clarified items. Each item of the classical dance, Folk dance, and ritual dances has its own defined order, and repertoire.

All these dancers, use certain meaningful ornaments, and well designed costumes and selective, appropriate make up for their dances. Similarly all these dances are based on certain selective, defined and identified music.

Some are accompanied with vocal and instrumental music together, and some are only accompanied with the vocal music alone, and some are only accompanied with vocal and instrumental music together. But unfortunately today there is a new trend which has emerged among the society and among the teachers, who introduce a new face of dance form to attract the students, and the audience.

One particular dance form is mixed-up with numerous other classical dances together, without any proper base or any proper sense. Many of times the choreographers insert and introduce their own creativity into the classical dances, without any limitations.

At the end all the classical dance forms, induce to lose the total essence, purity of the art, and their own identity. Even for these dances, no proper basic music is adopted. Numerous unnecessary outside techniques are adopted to attract the audience. But unfortunately in the present world, a new terminology is introduced by the modern society, to describe the dances in general, by calling, 'body language'. Actually this particular terminology is not at all appropriate to mention the sacred oriental, classical, folk, and ritual dances.

These dance forms have certain spiritual and religious values, and links. Hence calling such dances by the name "body language" is not at suitable, and totally it seems to be improper and vulgar. It is a shame to call the traditional dances by such term as" body language". According to Natya Sastra, among the four categories of Abinaya, Angikabhinaya is one Abinaya. It means, expressing the meaning of the song through angas (limbs).

It has three main divisions: Shareeraja, (major limb movements), Mukhaja, means (using the facial expressions by the facial features for interpreting the meanings), and Cheshtakrita, (movements of the body limbs). Description of the above said, the limb movements, cannot be regarded as "body language".

This particular abinaya category has certain definite and systematic regulations, for their usage. Hence it cannot be regarded as "body language". Anyhow some of the dance teachers try to introduce dance for the light music as background music. They choreograph and introduce dances for thrilling cinema songs.

All these dances are carried out and labelled under the name of fusion dance! These fusion dances are carried out and promoted by certain individual dance teachers, as well as by certain organizations for business purposes, for their own popularity, for entertainment, and also for enjoyment.

Earlier music was divided mainly into classical music, and folk music, which are used for classical dance, folk dance, and ritual dance respectively.

But for these modern fusion dances, have no proper basic music. Any art form which is introduced without any proper firm base won't last long. Calling the classical, folk, and ritual dance forms by the term like "body language" is not at all totally acceptable, by a deep civilized society.

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