Wishesh magazine january 2018 Wishesh magazine january 2018 | Page 28

INDIAN DIASPORA TRADITION ear and neck and vivid face make-up specially highlighting her eyes so that audience can view her expressions properly. Her hair neatly plaited in conventional way is often beautified with flowers. A jewellery belt adorns her waist while musical anklets called ghunghru made of leather straps with small metallic bells attached to it are wrapped in her ankles. Her feet and fingers are often brightened with henna colour so as to highlight gestures of her hands. Instruments & Music 28 The Bharatnatyam dancer is accompanied by a nattuvanar (or taladhari) that is a vocalist who generally conducts the whole performance, a part often executed by the guru. The person can also play the cymbals or any other instrument. The music associated with Bharatanatyam is in South India’s Carnatic style and instruments played comprise of cymbals, the flute, a long pipe horn called nagaswaram, a drum called mridangam and veena. The verses recited during performance are in Sanskrit, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. Famous Exponents The four Nattuvanars WWW.WISHESH.COM | JANUARY 2018 Bharatanatyam who is predominantly known for his style referred as the Pandanallur school of Bharatanatyam. namely Ponaiyah, Vadivelu, Sivanandam and Chinnaiya who are renowned as Tanjaore Bandhu and who thrived in the Durbar of Maratha ruler, Sarfoji-II from 1798 to 1832 shaped up the modern day Bharatanatyam. Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, a dance guru from the village of Pandanallur was a noted exponent of Bharatanatyam who is predominantly known for his style referred as the Pandanallur school of Bharatanatyam. One of his students Rukmini Devi championed and performed the Pandanallur (Kalakshetra) style and also remained one of the leading proponents of the classical dance revival movement. Balasarswati who was regarded as child prodigy by Vidhwans and Pandits also joined hands in reviving the dance form. She was a virtuoso of the Thanjavur style of Bharatanatyam. Other imminent Bharatanatyam artists include Mrinalini Sarabhai, her daughter Mallika Sarabhai, Padma Subramanyam, Alarmel Valli, Yamini Krishnamurthy and Anita Ratnam among others. Famous Bharatnatyam Dancers in India: 1- Rukmini Devi: This great Bharatanatyam dancer was born in Madurai on 28th February, 1904. With a strong background in Indian culture, she started her career by giving lectures on Indian culture in Europe, where she went with her husband Dr George Arundale. Then she learned Russina Ballet and her teacher suggested her to learn Indian Classical Dance. Then she learnt it from Pandanallur Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Gauri Amma and Muthukumar. She became a revolutionary in the field of Bharatanatyam