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