- published: 11 Jun 2009
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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. 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:
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.
Kavya Madhavan (Malayalam: കാവ്യ മാധവന്) is an Indian film actress who works in Malayalam cinema. She made her debut in Pookkalam Varavayi (1991) as a child artist. As a heroine Kavya's debut film was Lal Jose's Chandranudikkunna Dikhil(1999) while she was in the ninth standard. It was a super hit and from then on there was no looking back. She won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress twice, for her performances in the films Perumazhakkalam (2004) and Khaddama (2010).
Kavya was born on September 19, 1984 in the village of Nileshwaram in Kasargod district, Kerala, India, to P. Madhavan and Shyamala. She attended Nileswaram GLP School and entered the film industry as a child artist. She learned dancing during her school days and participated in competitions. She was a Kalathilakam in a Sub District Schools Youth Festival.