Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018

being suppressed due to laws enforced by the colonial British government, many artists like American dancer Esther Sherman came from the West to learn Indian classical dance forms. She came to India in 1930 and not only learnt classical dances but also adopted the name Ragini Devi and became a part of the ancient dance arts revival movement. As the Indian freedom movement progressed steadily during the early 20th century, an effort to revive Indian culture and tradition seethed with excitement among Indians. Eminent Bharatanatyam dancers like Arundale and Balasaraswati expanded the dance form out of Hindu temples and established it as a mainstream dance form. Later the Tamil Hindu migrants revived this Hindu temple dancing custom in British Tamil temples during the late 20th century. Today this ancient classical dance form also includes technical performances as also non- religious and fusion based themes. Repertoire The repertoire of this performance art are categorized into three brackets namely ‘Nritta’, ‘Nritya’ and ‘Natya’ mentioned in ‘Natya Shastra’ and followed by all major Indian classical dance forms. ‘Nritta’ is a technical performance where the dancer presents pure Bharata Natyam movements emphasising on speed, form, pattern, range and rhythmic aspects without any form of enactment or interpretive aspect. In ‘Nritya’ the dancer communicates a story, spiritual themes, message or feelings through expressive gestures and slower body movements harmonised with musical notes. ‘Natyam’ is usually performed by a group or in some cases by a solo dancer who maintains certain body movements for certain characters of the play which is communicated through dance-acting. The dance form typically comprises of certain sections performed in sequence namely Alarippu, Jatiswaram, Shabdam, Varnam, Padam and Thillana. Costumes The style of dressing of a Bharatanatyam dancer is more or less similar to that of a Tamil Hindu bride. She wears a gorgeous tailor-made sari that consists of a cloth specially stitched in pleats that falls in the front from the waist and when the dancer performs spectacular footwork that include stretching or bending her knees, the cloth widens up like a hand fan. The sari worn in a special manner is well complimented with traditional jewellery that include the ones that adorn her head, nose, JANUARY 2018 | WWW.WISHESH.COM

Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 27