Bharata-Nāṭyam

Bharata-nāṭyam ["the dance-drama of Bharata"] the dance-drama style particularly prevalent in southeastern India (Madras, Andhra Pradesh, and Mysore).
The Abhinaya-darpaṇa (ca. 5th to 10th centuries) authored by Nandikesvara describes three fundamental characteristics for Indian dance.
(1) nāṭya [dance-drama]
  		• The storytelling component of the dance
    (2) nṛtya [sentiment and mood (mime)]
     
    abhinaya conveys sentiment and mood through dance gestures symbolizing story elements. Scholars describe four categories of abhinaya.
    		• Aṅgika are gestures for various parts of the body described in the Nāṭyaśāstra. They include 67 hāsta (hand gestures), 32 chāri (movements of the lower limbs), and 108 karaṇa (gestures of the torso).
    		• Vacika refers directly to poetry, song, recitation, music, and rhythm.
    		• Aharya refers to costume, make-up, and jewellery.
    		• Satvika comprehends the physical manifestations of mental and emotional states.
    (3) nṛtta [pure dance, abstract patterns of movement]
  		• Nṛtta does not focus on the expression of emotion and thus facial expressions are of secondary importance. More important are compositions of rhythmic and metric complexity (e.g. adavu: rhythmic patterns performed with the feet).
    History
    The form that practitioners now describe as bharata-nāṭyam grew in part from the bhagavata-mēḷa, a men's village dance-drama. The dancers (devadāsīs ["god-servants"]) traditionally had associations with temples and courts. The British and British-influenced reactions to bharata-nāṭyam subsequently led to the banning of the dance in the 19th century. Under the influence of the nationalist impulses in the 1930s, urban intellectuals regained interest in the dance form and its music.
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    Notable in this movement was the devadāsī, Veena Dhanam [aka Vina Dhanammal] (1867-1938). She learned the vīṇa and its repertoire from the son of Syama Sastri.
    Her grand daughter, Balasaraswati (1920-84), reintroduced the dance tradition of bharata-nāṭyam into the family. Bala's daughter, Lakshmi, continued this dance tradition until her death in 2001 and Bala's brother, Viswanathan (seen accompanying her in the photo below), taught at Wesleyan University until his death in 2002. [These two artists performed together at Skidmore in 1990.]
    Video: Bala (1976) [31:17]. While including unusual sections (e.g., Balasaraswati dancing to the accompaniment of North Indian tabla), this short film by the award-winning cinematographer Satyajit Ray shows the dancer-musician at the height of her reputation. Also note the matrilineal nature of this tradition.
     
    The Bharata-nāṭyam Recital
    A full performance may consist of seven different genres of music and dance; however, recitals today are often much briefer. The alārippu, padam, and tillānā occur in most performances, the other parts included according to the performer's preferences and abilities.
    This program arrangement dates from the first half of the nineteenth-century when four brothers associated with the Brhadisvara temple in Tanjavur established these genres and their sequence. The "Tanjore Quartet" had Maratha kings as their patrons and Muttusvami Dīkṣitar as their teacher. Some were temple musicians (oduvar) and some, dance teachers (naṭṭuvanar). They also spent some time in Mysore during a period political upheaval.
  		• Cinnaya (b. 1802): dancer in Tanjavur and later court musician in Mysore.
  		• Ponnayya (b. 1804): composer who systematized the dance program sequence
  		• Sivanandam (b. 1808): vīṇa player (vainika) and dancer who emphasized abhinaya in the dance
  		• Vadivelu (1810-1847): introduced the use of the violin into Karnatak music and composed varnams for both instrumental performance and dance
    Discussion question: What might be the differences between matrilineal and patrilineal artistic tradtions?
     
    alārippu. A short dance-invocation to the deity and audience which emphasizes basic dance positions (nrtta) with little or no melodic accompaniment.
    		• Commonly in the performance of this section, the dance master (naṭṭuvaṇar) "recites a fixed composition of śolkaṭṭus (mnemonic syllables) which rhythmically approximate the dancer's choreographed movements" (Higgins 104). Nṛtta movements could include, for example, ardhamaṇḍali in which the heels are together, the toes apart, the knees bent, and the arms outstretched and parallel to the ground, elbows slightly bent and fingers curve upwards.
    jātisvaram (aka, jāti) [Sanskrit, "group" (in this case, dance rhythms) + svaram "notes"]. A musical composition without text which becomes progressively more rhythmically dense and which emphasizes rhythm and interaction between drummer and dancer.
    		• In jātisvaram, the dancer begins with wrists on hips and feet together and then beats out the rhythm with his/her feet accompanied by vocal passages of svara and dance-drum syllables (śolkaṭṭu) which are representations of dance rhythms (jāti). When drummers perform these rhythms on the drum they call them śollu.
    śabda [Sanskrit "word"]. A short repeated four-line text treated with niraval improvisations.
    		• The dancer begins with a tīrmānam (a rhythmically dense piece of pure dance (nṛtta)) and continues with an interpretation of the literary content (nṭtya). Traditionally performed to rāga Kambhojī.
    varṇam [Sanskrit varṇa "to spread, extend..., to praise extol, proclaim qualities..., to be coloured or described" (Monier-Williams 1899:924b)]. A study piece.
    		• A varṇam for bharata-nāṭyam is called pada varṇam and is characterized by alternations between nṛtta and nṛtya. A pada varṇam is an advanced study piece and is the most complex item in the performance. It is organized in the traditional pallavi, anupallavi, and caraṇam sections, with the saṅgati sections at the end sung only with sargam. (When musicians perform varṇam in a purely musical context with emphasis on the musical materials they refer to the genre as tāna varṇam. See section on instrumental genres.)
    padam [Sanskrit "to stand fast or fixed"]. Devotional texts in the madhurya ("erotic") ras sung in a slow tempo to allow dancer time for elaborate abhinaya and presented as a slow contrast to the varnam.
    		• All padam deal with love and are described from the perspective of the nāyikā, the female who yearns for the nāyakā (the male beloved).
    		• Some of the oldest compositions in the Karṇātak repertoire are padams by Ksetrayya for bharata-nāṭyam. Padams appear in most Karṇātak rāgas but some performers consider ghana rāgas to be too "heavy" and more appropriate for tānam improvisation. Rakti rāgas in such thinking are preferable because of their "emotional" nature. [According to T. S. Viswanathan, some rāgas can be both rakti and ghana ("serious").]
    tillānā [North India, "tarānā]. Rhythmic exhibition of svara and drum mnemonics to which the dancer presents a series of poses combining movements of the waist, shoulders, fingers, hands, feet, neck, and eyes.
    śloka [Sanskrit "sound, noise," "a particular kind of common epic metre . . . consisting of . . . 4 . . . quarter verses of 8 syllables each" (Monier-Williams 1899:1104c)]. A short concluding Sanskrit verse rendered in free time with an emphasis on abhinaya.
    References
    Higgins, Jon. 1987. Balasaraswati's "Tiśram Alārippu": The Musical Content. Asian Music 18(2):103-117.
    Pesch, Ludwig. 1999. The Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music. Delhi: Oxford University Press.
    Van Zile, Judy. 1987. Balasaraswati's "Tiśram Alārippu": A Choreographic Analysis. Asian Music 18(2):45-102.
    Vatsyayana, Kapila. 1980. Subcontinent of India. In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie, 9:158b-166b. London: Macmillan.
    Chebrolu, Padma. Dances of India: Bharata Natyam Arangetram Dances. Cincinnati, Ohio: Cultural Centre of India LLC, 2003. [DVD GV 1796 B4 D36 2006]
     

    Selected Recording
    Alārippu
    Tillānā Outline Hindustāni Saṅgīt
      7 March, 2018