- published: 11 Jun 2009
- views: 2809117
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.