Blog-Naatyam (moved)

 Vishara Adavu or Parvai Adavus or Tha Thai Thai That Adavus Cholkettu - Tha Thai Thai That Dhit Thai Thai That Hastas/Mudras - Thripathaka, Katakamukha and Alapadma Posture - Aramandalam and Alhida Paada Behdas - Sama Paadam and Anchitha There are several names for this adavus. Different banis(schools) of bharathanatyam use different ways to refer to this set of Adavus. Adavus can also be referred to by the cholkettu. Naming conventions are not standardized across the various schools. This set of adavus are spanning steps, that involves movements that displace the dancer from the starting point to different directions. With this set of Adavus the dancer develops the ability to move to rhythm and cover space. A lot of co-ordonation and focus is required to get this step to perfection.  Hand eye co-oridnation, moving from position A to position B and shifting between hastas are key here. The practice of transitioning from one hasta to another while executing the adavus which wa...

 Naatta Adavu Cholkettu - Thaiyyum That That Thayhi Ya Ha Hastas/Mudras - Thripathaka, Katakamukha and Alapadma Posture - Aramandalam and Alhida Paada Behdas - Sama Paadam and Anchitha The word "Nattuka or Naatu" means to stretch. And that is the main movement involved in Naatta Adavu. This set of steps/adavus are taught right after Thatta Adavu. The progression of this has been well thought out. Once the dancer gets her balance in the aramandalam posture and can do her Thattu perfectly in Thatta Adavu, he/she is now ready to move to the next very important aspect of movement. Analyzing how to distribute weight when body moves from a stable to a stretched posture is critical when learning Natta Adavu. Stretching the legs out to the side/front/back is the main leg movements involved. These are accompanied by co-ordinated hand movements with either Tripathaka or Katakamukha/Alapadma hastas. The hand/palm movements are little more intricate than that done in the Thatta Adavus. I...

 Thodayam is one of the first dance items taught to a student of Bharathanatyam. The Thodayam done varies based on the different banis in Bharathanatyam. Thodayam in significance equates to a Pushpanjali and is an invocatory item. The Thodayam handed down to me by my first Guru, Rajalakshmi Surendran is a very traditional item. In Thodayam, the dancer enters the stage with the Asamyutha hasta, Pushpaputha. If performed as the very first item, the dancer carries flowers in her hand as offerings. If done after Alarippu, the flower offering is not done a second time. This being an invocatory item, the emotional state of the dancer is that of utmost devotion. Dancer begins on the sides of the stage in pushpaputa hasta and enters the stage with a medium paced walk. Dancer offers the flowers at the Lord's feet and then commenses the pure nritta section with circular arm movements insterspersed with simple adavus. The first part is pure nritta consisting of short korvais. This is then fol...

 Thatta Adavu Number of variations - Commonly 8 Chollukettu 1 & 2- Thayya Thai 3   - Thayya Thayya Thai 4 - Thayya Thayya Thayya Thai 5 - Thayya Thayyi Thai Thai Tham 6 - double of 3 7 - Thai Thai That That Thai Thai Tham 8 - double of 4 Posture - Aramandalam Hastas - Pathaka hands held in Natyarambha position Paada Bhedas - Sama Padam (feet hitting flat on the ground) The very first set of Adavus that a Bharathanatyam dancer learns is the Thatta Adavu. 8 variations are commonly taught under this set of Adavus. Some banis teach Thatta Adavus to chollukettu - Tha Ka Dhi Mi, while other banis have an array of chollukettus for 1-8 of these adavus. Chollukettus are set to Eka Taalam mostly. Thatta Adavus are an important foundational set of adavus. The posture of Aramandalam which is characteristic of bharathanatyam is the posture in which the steps are executed. The student learns to be stable in aramandalam and at the same time lift their feet off the ground while keepi...

 Chollu - The Spoken Sound The sound of a chollu or a sound uttered has a life. It may live for a few seconds to even as small as a millisecond. The skill of a dancer is in embodying that sound fully and wholly within her movement. What is a movement in terms of dance ? I see it as a shift in the body's alignment from the base form. In bharathanatyam we can attribute the base form as Samam. The Samam posture is the stance where every part of your angas(main) and upangas(subordinate) body parts are in its samam position. The movements of these main angas are in conjunction with those of the upangas. This coordinated movement of the angas and upangas within the confines of a sound or syllable can be considered as a movement in dance. This definition does not correspond to te concept of “Chari '' in Natyashastra. We will look at Charis and Karanas in future posts. A movement when executed to its maximum spatial and temporal capacities will enhance the aesthetics of the dance. ...

 Alarippu  Alarippu is an invocatory piece that is focused on pure “Nritta”. The repeated rhythmic pattern that varies in speed has a very meditative impact on the dancer. In the actual temple rituals, Alarippu is played before Mallari. Main instrument for Alarippu is Tavil when played in accordance to temple "Upachaarams" or rituals. Alarippu can be done in Tisra, Chatusra, Khanda, Mishra or Sankeerna Eka Thaalam. The word Alarippu means a blooming flower. A dancer performing Alarippu can be seen as going through the various phases of a blooming flower. Starting with a beautiful and subtle attami (greeva or neck movement), the dancer then progresses to opening up slowly with the arm movements. The dancer’s body is in “samam” or straight posture with only her arms and “shiro” or head moving to the rhythmic pattern. There is a slight forward thrust given to the whole body starting from the paada (feet) to the uro(upper body). Maintaining that posture with utmost stillness and ...

  Bhaagyada Lakshmi Baaramma raagam: shree 22 kharaharapriya janya Aa: S R2 M1 P N2 S Av: S N2 P D2 N2 P M1 R2 G2 R2 S OR madyamaavati 22 kharaharapriya janya Aa: S R2 M1 P N2 S Av: S N2 P M1 R2 S taaLam: aadi Composer: Purandara Daasar Language: Kannada pallavi bhAgyada lakShmI bArammA nammamma nI sau (bhAgyada) Lakshmi devi the who showers us with Soubhagyam (good fortune) dear mother Goddess caraNam 1 hejjaya mele hhejjeyanikkuta gejje kAlgaLa dhvaniya tOruta sajjana sAdhu pUjeya vELege majjigeyoLagina beNNeyante (bhAgyada) She walks towards us with her divine feet adorned by gejje(anklets). Hear her anklet adorned feets sound fill her devotees ears. All good and nice devotees who offer her prayers will see the results of their prayers come through and become fruitful. caraNam 2 kanaka vrStiya kareyuta bAre mana kAmanaya siddhiya tOrE dinakara kOTi tEjadi hoLeva janakarAyana kumAri vEdha (bhAgyada) SHe comes bearing Gold and blesses her devotees by granting them their wishes. He...

 A guide for students to do their practice This will serve as a guide for students with practicing at home. It will also be a nice reference for parents who want to help their children practice effectively. Practice Guide for Students Daily Practice : Start with Thattikumbidal and Stretch 1 through 4 Sitting stretches - Butterfly a must. And then any of the 2-3 other stretches Recite the chollu of the adavu they are currently learning in aadi taalam/ekataalam (all 3 speeds). Practice the adavu being taught in class currently. Revise two adavus from an adavu set learnt prior. For beginner level 2 and intermediate batch do Alarippu. Practice your current dance item after Alarippu. Additional Practice :       Refer to any of the Technique class videos and practice along  (Class Videos link on youtube Takajum channel) Daily practice is the most effective.  Submit practice videos whenever requested promptly. Happy Practicing !! ​

 As we all know COVID 19 brought about quiet a bit of challenges. One of them being "online classes". Academic as well as extra curricular classes going online has not been the most easiest on teachers, students or parents.  As parents we have had to take a bigger share of the responsibility of monitoring and assisting our children in all their online classes. Being a parent of two myself I totally understand the struggles. And so today I am here with a blog to give some guidance to parents on how to help your child with their classical dance classes as well as practices. Using the right device Laptops, Chromebooks, Tablets or IPads are the most ideal for online classes. Cell phones are a terrible medium and should be avoided since they tend to be very cubersome to use with Zoom, Skype etc. When using a laptop/Chromebook/Tablet/Ipads, make sure that you donot have too many windows/games etc open so processing power is not impacted.  If the child complains of low volume o...

  Gestures and Words in our daily life Life is all about co-existing with human beings and all the things in this world. Co-existing involves interacting with both people as well as nature. Every interaction you have has an important function - It communicates what you think or would like the other person to perceive. We normally use various ways to communicate our thoughts. Words and gestures being the most spontaneous of all. A person's reaction to a situation is usually through gestures and words very specific to him/her. An actor's perception Gestures, words/music and costume are key for an actor depicting a character. Gestures in indian classical dance are especially helpful in conveying key aspects of a character. Like a katakamukha hand and dola hand held in each hand signifying the grace of a lady. A widened chest and a shikhara held to denote a man. These aid in giving definition to what is being depicted. Such depictions combined with body language gives a well ...

 All Indian Classical Art forms have a common base which has evolved over ages. The depth and vastness is unfathomable and a person cannot really master it in a lifetime. The more you learn the more you realize how little you know.  Dance as we know it has gone through immense evolution. It has been interesting trying to trace the history of dance. I love dance and I love history. So it was natural for me to want to know more and more about the history of dance.  As every dancer knows there are scriptures that have survived through thousands of years that has been the basis of all Indian classical art forms. Natyashastra is considered one of the most earliest scriptures that have elaborated on dramaturgy.  What is even more interesting is the fact that there was some existing form of dramaturgy that existed even prior to Natyashastra. Natyashastra is said to have been created to replace the exiting dramatical system which was not the most sophisticated. Nat...

  Learning an art form is a very involved and long process. Most art forms, especially the ones that have evolved over ages will have a structure to adhere to and thus training methods are extensive and takes a while to master. Dance is no different. And Indian classical dance is especially an interesting case study. Evolved and codified over ages, most Indian classical dance forms take years to learn and many many more years to master or even touch the surface of its possibilities. Even though most dance classes are taught in a group format, it is interesting note that each child progresses differently. The measure of a child's progress is never the same across all students in a class. A teacher sets certain generic milestones that every child should attain. But at the same time there are some individualized milestones for each student. An important point to keep in mind is that each student is an individual. And each one blossoms out differently. For instance one child might...

All classical art forms in India, be it Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathak, Odissi - All these forms have basis in the various ancient scriptures. It is interesting to go through the various concepts that are not just applicable to Indian classical dance but are very relevant to any art form. For example , the qualities of a classical dancer as explained in Abhinayadarpana : पात्रस्य प्राणाः -- जवः स्थिरत्वं रेखा च भ्रमरी दृष्टिरश्रमः ॥ २७॥ मेधा श्रद्धा वचो गीतं पात्रप्राणा दश स्मृताः । एवंविधेन पात्रेण नृत्यं कार्यं विधानतः ॥ २८॥ Javaha Sthiratwam Rekha cha Bhramari Drishti Shramaha Medha Shraddha Vacho Geetham Paathra praanaa Dasha Smruthaha Javaha - Agility of a dancer Agility and nimbleness are important qualities of a dancer.  Sthirathwam - Steadiness Steadiness is a factor of how well a dancer's body balances as well as maintains the center of concentrated force as the body moves through space. Rekha - Clean graceful lines Clean and graceful lines are key to attaining perfectio...