Bharatanatyam (Tamil: பரத நாட்டியம்) is a classical dance form from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music. It dates back to 1000 B.C.^[1] Its inspirations come from the sculptures of the ancient temple of Chidambaram. It was codified and documented as a performing art in the 19th century by four brothers known as the Tanjore Quartet whose musical compositions for dance form the bulk of the Bharata Natya repertoire even today.

Most schools recognize 108 principal adavus, while some styles include over 150. Few professional dancers use more than 60. A combination of adavus is called jathi, which make up the Nritta passages in a Bharatanatyam performance. Unlike the margi Nritta composed of the Karanas, the adavus do not convey any rasa.

The main adavus are:

• Tatta Adavu
• Natta Adavu
• Visharu Adavu
• Tatti Metti Adavu
• Teermanam Adavu
• Sarikal Adavu
• Kuditta Metta Adavu
• Sutral (Murka) Adavu
• Jaati Adavu
• Mandi Adavu

Bhedas and eye movements[link]

Bharata Natyam technique includes many other elements, such as elaborate neck and eye movements.

While Natya Shastra contains the largest number of the movements, and the most detailed descriptions, Abhinaya Darpanam, for instance, has defined only nine head movements, four neck movement and eight eye movements (compared with 36 of Natya Shastra) which are used extensively throughout the dance.

• Head movements (Shiro bhedas): Sama, Udhvahita, Adhomukha, Alolita,Dhutam, Kampitam, Paravruttam, Utkshiptam and Parivahitam.
• Neck movements (Griva bhedas): Sundari, Tirashchina, Parivartita, Prakampita
• Eye movements (Drishti bhedas): Sama, Alolita, Sachi, Pralokita, Nimilite, Ullokita, Anuvritta, Avalokita (who looks down

Items[link]

Thattukuzhi and mannai are baton and plank used to keep rhythm.

A Bharatanatyam performance lasts about two hours^[2] and includes six or more of the following parts:

• Allarippu - A presentation of the Tala punctuated by simple syllables spoken by the dancer. This really is sort of an invocation to the gods to bless the performance.
• Kautuvam - Ancient temple dance item performed in the beginning of the recital, containing rhythmic syllables sung for jathis.
• Ganapati Vandana - A traditional opening prayer to the Hindu god Ganesh, who removes obstacles. See also Pushpanjali

. Jatiswaram - An abstract dance where the drums set the beat. Here the dancer displays her versatility in elaborate footwork and graceful movements of the body.

• Shabdam - The dancing is accompanied by a poem or song with a devotional or amorous theme.
• Varnam - The center piece of the performance. It is the longest section of the dance punctuated with the most complex and difficult movements. Positions of the hands and body tell a story, usually of love and the longing for the lover.
• Padam - Probably the most lyrical section where the dancer "speaks" of some aspect of love: devotion to the Supreme Being; or of love of mother for child; or the love of lovers separated and reunited.
• Stuti - Hymn in praise of a deity that may contain a feigned mockery, etc. See also Stotra
• Koothu - Item containing a lot of dramatic elements.
• Javali - Javalis are relatively new, pure abhinaya types of compositions of light and pleasing nature. Like Padams the underlying theme of Javalis is Sringara Rasa depicting the Nayaka-Nayaki bhava.
• Thillana - The final section is a pure dance (nritta) when the virtuosity of the music is reflected in the complex footwork and captivating poses of the dancer.

Apart from these items, there are items such as Shlokam, Swarajathi, Krithi etc. The performance concludes with the chanting of a few religious verses as a form of benediction. Certain styles include more advanced items, such as Tharanga Nritham and Suddha Nritham. When a dancer has mastered all the elements of dance, as a coming out performance, he or she generally performs an Arangetram (debut).

• Angikam - This is a devotional song on Lord Shiva and an item dance in bharatnatyam. It can be performed in byapti slow motion.

Currently, the sequence of items in most solo performances follow either of the two different margam sets: the Tanjore Quartet margam and the devadasi margam. Before the Tanjore Quartet, the format of a traditional Bharata Natyam performance followed this order:

1. Jaya stuti
2. Sharanu Sharanu
3. Alaru (Alarippu)
4. Sollu
5. Shabdam
6. Varnam
7. Padam
8. Swarajati
9. Abhinaya Padam
10. Thillana
11. Abhinaya Padam
12. Jakkini Padam
13. Geetham
14. Prabandham
15. Triputa
16. Shloka Varnam
17. Kavuthuvam
18. Mangale (Mangalam)

About Varnam:

Varnam literally means colour. Because there are different colours for example: pink, orange, blue, red etc. So, in Varnam we show different bhava of a nayika for example: smile, angry, disappointed, sad etc. Varnam is the centre piece in te recital of Bharatnatyam. It is a very long rachana and can last from 30 minutes up to an hour. There are 2 typrs of Varnam: Taana Varnam and the Pada varnam. Taana Varnam mostly gives importat to music or the song. Pada Varnam gives importance to Tala.

Nava Rasas in Bharatanatyam[link]

In Bharatanatyam, emotions are described as Abhinayas.

A list of the Nava Rasas are given below:

1. Srungara
2. Raudra
3. Veera
4. Hasya
5. Karuna
6. Bibhatsa
7. Adbhuta
8. Bhayanaka
9. Shanta

Other aspects[link]

A male Bharata Natyam performer

• Jewelry - Bharata Natyam dancers wear a unique set of jewelry known as "Temple Jewelry" during the performance.
• Costume - From the ancient texts and sculptures, one can see that the original costume did not cover most of the dancers' bodies. The medieval times, with the puritanistic drive, caused the devadasis to wear a special, heavy saree that severely restricted the dance movements. There are several varieties of Bharata Natyam costumes, some of which do not restrict the dancer's movements, while the others do. The modern costumes are deeply symbolic, as their purpose is to project the dancer's sukshma sharira (cf.aura), in the material world.
• Ankle bells or Salangai - also known as ghungroo.
• Thattukazhi and mannai is a wooden block and stick used by the teacher to keep rhythm.
• Music - The accompanying music is in the Carnatic style of South India.
• Ensemble - Mostly, South Indian instruments are used in the ensemble. These include, the mridangam (drum), nadaswaram (long pipe horn made from a black wood), the flute, violin and veena (stringed instrument traditionally associated with Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of the arts and learning).
• Languages - Tamil, Telugu and Kannada are traditionally used in Bharata Natyam.

Ideal qualities of dancers[link]

Bharatnatyam dance performance in Surrey, United Kingdom in 2010.

A professional Bharata Natyam dancer must demonstrate a number of qualities. As Sangitaratnakara puts it, the true dance is connected to the beauty of the body, therefore any other dance is simply a parody (VII.1246).

The Abhinaya Darpana has a sloka that describes Patra Prana Dasha Smrutaha — the ten essentials of the dancer: Javaha (Agility), Sthirathvam (Steadiness), Rekha (graceful lines), Bhramari(balance in pirouettes), Drishti (glance), Shramaha (hard work), Medha (intelligence), Shraddha(devotion), Vacho (good speech), and Geetam (singing ability).

A professional dancer (patra), according to the Abhinayadarpanam (one of the two most authoritative texts on Bharata Natyam), must possess the following qualities. She has to be youthful, slender, beautiful, with large eyes, with well-rounded breasts, self-confident, witty, pleasing, well aware of when to dance and when to stop, able to follow the flow of songs and music, and to dance to the time (thalam), with splendid costumes, and of a happy disposition.^{[citation needed]}

The Natya Shastra states the qualities required of a female dancer narthaki, "Women who have beautiful limbs, are conversant with the sixty-four arts and crafts (kala), are clever, courteous in behaviour, free from female diseases, always bold, free from indolence, inured to hard work, capable of practising various arts and crafts, skilled in dancing and songs, who excel by their beauty, youthfulness, brilliance and other qualities all other women standing by, are known as female dancers.^[3]

Similarities with classical dances[link]

The following Indian classical dance forms share more common elements with Bharata Natyam:

1. Kuchipudi – Telugu classical dance
2. Mohiniyattam – Keralan classical dance
3. Odissi – Orissan classical dance

Many other South East Asian dances have much similarities with Bharata Natyam.

References[link]

• Devi, Ragini (1990). Dance dialects of India. New Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.. ISBN 81-208-0674-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=KRz5ykKRVAEC. 
• O'Shea, Janet (2007). At Home in the World: Bharata Natyam on the Global Stage. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6837-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=4CfA4uDwCKwC. 
• Sehgal, Sunil (1999). Encyclopaedia of Hinduism: (H - Q)., Volume 3. New Delhi, India: Sarup & Sons. ISBN 81-7625-064-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=-3OhTtBUBdgC. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bharatanatyam

• Bharata Natyam at the Open Directory Project
• BharataNatyam - detailed introduction to its origin, technique, concepts, and varieties.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2006)

Ananda Shankar (11 December 1942 - 26 March 1999) was a Bengali musician best known for fusing Western and Eastern musical styles. He was married to Tanusree Shankar.

Early life[link]

Born in Almora in Uttar Pradesh, India, Shankar was the son of Amala and Uday Shankar, popular dancers, and also the nephew of renowned sitarist Ravi Shankar.^[1] Ananda did not learn sitar from his uncle but studied instead with Lalmani Misra at Banaras Hindu University.^[1]

Professional career[link]

In the late 1960s Shankar travelled to Los Angeles, where he played with many contemporary musicians including Jimi Hendrix. There he was signed to Reprise Records and released his first self-titled album in 1970, featuring original Indian classical material alongside sitar-based cover versions of popular hits such as The Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and The Doors' "Light My Fire".

Returning to India in the early 1970s Shankar continued to experiment musically and in 1975 released his most critically acclaimed album, Ananda Shankar And His Music, a jazz-funk mix of Eastern sitar, Western rock guitar, tabla and mridangam, drums and Moog synthesizers. Out of print for many years, Ananda Shankar And His Music was re-released on CD in 2005.

After working in India during the late 1970s and 1980s, Shankar's profile in the West began to rise again in the mid-1990s as his music found its way into club DJ sets, particularly in London. His music was brought to a wider audience with the release of Blue Note Records' popular 1996 rare groove compilation album, Blue Juice Vol. 1., featuring the two standout tracks from Ananda Shankar And His Music, "Dancing Drums" and "Streets of Calcutta".

In the late 1990s Shankar worked and toured in the United Kingdom with London DJ State of Bengal and others, a collaboration that would result in the Walking On album, featuring Shankar's trademark sitar soundscapes mixed with breakbeat and hip hop. Walking On was released in 2000 after Shankar's sudden death from heart failure the year before.

In 2005, his song "Raghupati" was used on the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories soundtrack, and in 2008 his song "Dancing Drums" was used on the LittleBigPlanet soundtrack.

Recently, 2010 and 2011, his music has been featured in a number of episodes of popular NBC comedy show Outsourced. Following is a list of episodes and music featured: Episode 103: Party of Five - 10/7/2010 - "Night in the Forest" Episode 105: Touched by an Anglo - 10/21/2010 - "Dancing Drums" Episode 106: Bolloween - 10/28/2010 - "Radha" -- inst. Episode 107: Truly, Madly, Pradeeply - 11/04/2010 - "Dancing Drums". Episode 109: Temporary Monsanity - 11/18/2010 - "Dancing Drums" Episode 110: Homesick to my Stomach - 12/02/2010 - "Renunciation" Episode 112: Sari Charlie - 1/27/2011 - "Exploration" Episode 114: The Todd Couple - 2/10/2011 - "Cyrus"

Discography[link]

• Ananda Shankar, 1970 (LP, Reprise 6398/CD, Collectors' Choice CCM-545)
• Ananda Shankar And His Music, 1975 (EMI India)
• India Remembers Elvis, 1977 (EP EMI India S/7EPE. 3201)
• Missing You, 1977 (EMI India)
• A Musical Discovery of India, 1978 (EMI India)
• Sa-Re-Ga Machan, 1981 (EMI India)
• 2001, 1984 (EMI India)
• Temptations, 1992 (Gramaphone Company of India)
• Ananda Shankar: Shubh- The Auspicious, 1995
• Ananda, 1999 (EMI India)
• Arpan, 2000 (EMI India)
• Walking On, 2000 (Real World 48118-2, with State of Bengal)
• Ananda Shankar: A Life in Music - The Best of the EMI Years, 2005 (Times Square TSQ-CD-9052)

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (June 2007)

• Ananda Shankar Foundation Biography Page
• Rolling Stone Discography
• Ananda Shankar at the Internet Movie Database