„Then the nymphs (apsarasas) of the celestial waters, the figures of dramatic art who are familiar with the practice of nātya, sprang from the idea of the Brahma, the source of Eternal Power, the Radiant Everywhere."
Natya Shastra (45)
INDIAN DANCES
Today we distinguish seven traditional main Indian dance styles, these are Kathak (in the Northern states), Manipuri (Manipur, Northeast), Odyssey (Orissa, East), Kuchipudi (in the state of Andhra Pradesh, Southeast) Kathakali, Mohiniattam, Áttam (Kerala, Southwest) and Bharatanatyam (Nadu, Southeast). Within the main styles, there are still countless schools and gurus (dance masters), each teaching a slightly different style of their own.
One hundred and eight of the dance poses were fixed on the wall of the Shiva Temple in Chidambaram, South India. Dancing figures can also be found on the temples built by the Pallava, Csola, Pandija, Najaka and Maratha dynasties in the fourth century. Reliefs, sculptures, paintings have survived in Kanchipuram and the Brihadisvara Temple in Tanjur.
THE SOUTH INDIAN BHARATANATYAM
Bharatanātyaṁ is the most popular of the Indian classical dance forms. It is believed to be the oldest of the dance styles, probably because it evolved from the tribal dance of the Tamil people which had survived in the dramas of the people of South India. Another role of the dance drama is the sacred temple female dance, which was performed in the XII-XIII.century, and lived its heyday. In the early centuries it was known as Sadirat, Dasiat or Kuttu. Purandara Dasa (1484-1564) first used the term bharata-natjam in the Middle Ages. Foreign influences left their mark on it as little as possible. It was also helpful in its survival that it is a living genre, so that today it is not only its goal to preserve traditions, but it also allows for creative activity. By keeping the existing rules, the dance teachers encourage their students to create new works and to rethink and implement the evergreen themes in accordance with today's taste.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DANCE
The gods asked Brahma to create the Vedas which would be understood by all people as the Kali Yuga, the approaching dark age. When desire, greed, jealousy, and anger overwhelmed the universe, when people became slaves to joy and pain, it is believed that Brahma created a kind of entertainment that was understandable by everyone. It is able to establish a cosmic connection, and thus conveys the teachings in an easier way. Brahma then passed on this knowledge to Ṛṣi Bharata to describe and spread it in the earthly world.
In addition to the myth of the formation of dance, we are left with two documents, Nátya Sastra and Abhinaja-darpana from the Gupta era (i.e. 2nd-2nd century AD). Abhinaja (authored by Nāndikēṣvāra), the “mirror of expression,” details the tiniest movements of body parts (mudras — hand gestures, gaze, eyebrow, foot, and foot movements, and thus mimic elements and gestures). The Sanskrit word natja means a kind of total art, a unity of dance, music and drama. Sastra means science in general. Nātya Shastra distinguishes between two styles of play. Thāṇḍava is the dance of Siva, powerful and masculine. His technique is based on 108 postures (karana), but in the present bharatanātyam only certain parts of these can be recognized. Lászya is a delicate feminine dance, a prop of dramatic performance. Its sophisticated hand signal system is suitable for telling stories and expressing emotions.
In addition to these two main works, the Purāṇa, Mahā-bharata, and Ramayana, among others, immortalized the dance. Classical performances also tell the stories of these epics. But this does not mean that this was the beginning of the tradition of dance drama in India, it was a description of a dance theater that had developed over a long period of practice. After Ṛṣi Bharata introduced the dance to Siva, the god asked him to further develop the thandava (masculine) style, which was actually developed only later, yet classical dances are often identified with the dance of Siva (Nata-raja).
PRESENT
At the dawn of the new age, the author’s quartet of four brothers, who became famous as the Tanjór Quartet, created new possibilities accompanied by the music of dance and developed the stage repertoire. In 1856, the British finally occupied Tanjur’s last bastion of South India, overthrowing the ruling power. This marked the beginning of the transformation of the Devadász tradition, since, in the absence of donations from the ruler, the church was unable to support the church staff, which at that time numbered thousands. In search of a secular patron, the community of dancers became more and more open. However, at the beginning of colonization, learning classical Indian dance was a forbidden area for Europeans.
In today’s India, learning music or classical dance is already an integral part of educating a middle-class girl. The change began shortly after the turn of the century, mostly mediated by foreigners. Talented and well-trained Indian dancers have appeared on European and American ballet stages. In their homeland, male dancers, unworthy, usually by this time, made their debut as successful artists overseas. In the history of European man, from the 1930s onwards, the image of the “mystical East” became ingrained in the public consciousness, and at the same time the effects of Indian dances appeared in Western free or contemporary dance. As a result of Western successes, the restoration of dance’s reputation in India has begun. Rukmini Devi Arundale is associated with the renewal and acceptance of bharatanatyam. With the help of her affluent English husband, she bought land on the beach in Madras, where she had a dance school built. She invited dancers and musicians who were still alive to teach. She received scholars who, with the help of Sanskrit and Tamil manuscripts, contributed to the recall of the old technique and repertoire of bharatanatyam.
Written by Tímea Szabó
Translation: Gina Rubik (ELTE MA Media)
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translations: http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/monier/indexcaller.php
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Bharata natyam
Kathákali
Odyssey
Kucsipudi
Kathak
Manipuri
Móhini Áttam
