Indian Dance
Posted on May 17, 2009 - Filed Under Arts & Culture, Travel
Bharatanatyam is the national dance of India. It is a classical form that originated in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It is based on an earlier form of dance, Cathir, which was the art of temple dancers. The Cathir dates back to ancient times. The various postures of this dance inspired many Hindu artists. There are numerous Hindu sculptures in temples that depict these poses and characters. Indian culture is incredibly intriguing to Western tourists, and guests staying in a hotel Madras, now called Chennai, are often drawn to the artwork in the temples.
The Bharatanatyam is often categorized as a fire dance, which is the alchemical manifestation of fire in the human body. It represents the beauty of the eternal force as manifested through the human body. This reflects back to the main concept of Hinduism, that being the belief that the universe is the dance of Lord Shiva. The movement of the dancer is designed to emulate the flame of a fire, and tremendous dedication and practice is necessary to skillfully embody this. The movements have been practiced as a type of yoga, though this is rarely the case in contemporary genres. When it is used, it is usually done so by strictly orthodox schools.
While the movements of the dance flow together harmoniously, they are actually comprised of specific and detailed individual movements. One of the most distinctive features of the Bharatanatyam is the use and significance of hand gestures. The hands are used for communication and some of the gestures are extremely symbolic. Many of the gestures are standard greetings and are widely known. This includes the Anjali, which is a gesture used as a salutation. There are also many steps involved in the dance. The adavus, a series of steps, has numerous styles of execution. While few professional dancers use more than 60 adavus, the number recognized in schools varies from 108 to 150. The costumes used in the dance are extremely symbolic and represent the individual aura of the dancer.
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