{"id":26795,"date":"2015-11-18T15:35:01","date_gmt":"2015-11-18T14:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/no-problem-mam.com\/?page_id=26795"},"modified":"2023-09-10T09:32:08","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T07:32:08","slug":"classical-dances-of-india","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/magikindia.com\/en\/classical-dances-of-india\/","title":{"rendered":"Classical dances of India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dance, like music, is a deeply rooted part of Indian culture. The earliest written traces of it are in the Vedas and the Natya Shastra<\/em>, an ancient treatise of the performing arts. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The<\/strong> Natya Shastra<\/em><\/strong> (from the Sanskrit natya<\/em> (drama) and shastra <\/em>(treatise)), is an encyclopaedic tome written in the 2nd century CE and attributed to Bharata Muni. It lays down the foundations of Indian theatre and is regarded as the fifth Veda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It consists of 38 chapters describing the rules of prosody and diction,<\/strong> character types, how to represent feelings, and the movements of the limbs. Sixty-eight mudras<\/em> (hand positions) and 36 eye movements are described precisely. It is still the foundation of all theatrical creation in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Kathakali make-up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Natya Shastra<\/em> does not mention by name all the forms of classical dance that are known today,<\/strong> but lists four Pravritti<\/em> or dances: Dakshinatya, Audramagadhi, Avanti and Panchali. Today’s Bharata Natyam is derived from Dakshinatya and Odissi from Audramagadhi. Little is known about Avanti and Panchali.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The classical dances were formally defined by the Sangeet Natak Akademi<\/strong>, which was set up by the education ministry in 1952 to promote and preserve the vast cultural heritage of India’s music, dance and theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognises eight styles of Indian classical dance:<\/strong> Bharata Natyam (Tamil Nadu<\/a><\/strong>), Kathak (Uttar Pradesh<\/a><\/strong>), Kathakali (Kerala<\/a><\/strong>), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh<\/a><\/strong>), Manipuri (Manipur), Odissi (Odisha<\/a><\/strong>) and Sattriya (Assam).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dance is considered “classical” if it incorporates techniques described in the Natya Shastra<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bharata Natyam<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Bharata Natyam, which emerged in Tamil Nadu<\/a> in South India, is considered the oldest Indian classical dance form still practiced. <\/strong>It originated in the early years of the Common Era (Christian era).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the dance form itself is old, the name Bharata Natyam has only been used since the 20th century.<\/strong> It means “Dance of India”, Bharat<\/em> being the old name for India. Bharata<\/em> is also said to be a composite word made up of Bha<\/em> from bhavam<\/em> (emotion, facial expression), Ra<\/em> from ragam<\/em> (melodic mode) and Ta <\/em>from thalam<\/em> (rhythm). It is also associated with the name of Bharata Muni, author of the Natya Shastra<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Natyam<\/em> is simply the Tamil word for “dance”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n