http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qYyo-WXOC0

Remarkable work

Dr.Ambika Kameshwar..a remarkable woman who does remarkable work. And she happens to be my dance teacher. Akka, as we all call her, runs a school for special children (children with not 'dis' but different abilities). She uses dance as a therapeutical (called Creative Movement Therapy) tool to enhance the behavioral and cognitive skills of the children. Being a part of her dance school has given some of us the opputunity to be a part of her wonderful work. I will maybe write about her and her work in a later blog. For now, just wanted all you guys to read an article about her in Hindu. Some introduction for starters.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year . Wishing you all a wonderful 2006 - a year of new hope, new happiness, new beginnings.

Did you know # 2

Before the beginning of the 20th century, no male dancer danced as a male. He donned the sthreevesha to impersonate a female. The 1st male dancer to give Bharatanatyam performance as a male was Ram Gopal.

Natyashstra and Abhinayadarpana

Natyashastra, or the Science of Arts, is a treatise on dramaturgy. It was compiled by Bharata Muni sometime between 200 BC and 200 AD. It devotes itself mainly to the 3 aspects of performing arts - music, dance, and theater (also encompasses other forms of arts - painting and sculpture).

Bharata, in Natyashastra traces the origin of dance or Natya to Lord Brahma. The story goes as such.

Once the entire Jambudvipa was full of Rakshas (demons), Yakshas (half-god half-demon), and the serpent class. The Asthta-dikpalakas (rulers of the 8 directions) found it very difficult to control things and lead the universe properly. Life was going astray. On seeing this, Lord Indra along with the other gods approached Lord Brahma. They appealed to him and asked him to create a fifth Veda, which will appeal to the masses through sound and visual means. Lord Brahma, after going through the 4 existing Vedas created the fifth Veda and named it Natya Veda. This Veda included various elements of the 4 Vedas - aspects of acting from Yajurveda, aspects of recitation from Rigveda, songs from Samaveda, and the aspects of sentiment and emotion from Atharvaveda. After codifying the Natyaveda he taught it to Sage Bharata. The sage inturn taught it to his descendents and the Apsaras. To impart the knowledge he used the 4 Vrittis (expressions): Bharathi (vocal), Sattvati (emotional), Arabhati (forceful), and Kaisiki (delicate). The last vritti was to be presented by female characters.

Natyashastra is the theoretical foundation to all the artforms in India and in particular to dance. It contains the core concepts of Rasa (emotion) and Abhinaya (expression).

Abhinayadarpana, written by Nandikeshwara is another ancient tome that talks about the evolution of symbolism and gesture. It was written around 3rd century AD and has 324 slokas in a single chapter (all available manuscripts are in Telugu). Where the Natyashastra explains aspects of theater and dance that includes expression, movements, music, theater construction, and costumes, the Abhinayadarpana concentrates on abhinaya or expression - including facial movements and hand gestures. The Abhinayadarpana is a standard text on dance or Nrtya, which is followed by many schools of classical Indian dance.

The Tanjore Quartet

The dance compositions of legendary music and dance masters of the 19th century, the Tanjore Quartet form the classical canon, or masterpieces of Bharatanatyam. The term Tanjore Quartet refers to 4 brothers (also known as Thanjai Naalvar in Tamil). They are Chinnaiah (born 1802), Ponnaiah (born 1804), Sivanandam (born 1808), and Vadivel (born 1810).

The 4 brothers were born into a family of nattuvanars (choreographers and composers) and belong to the Isai-Vellalar caste. They were educated in music by one of the musical trinities - Muthuswami Dikshithar and were appointed in the court of Raja Sarfoji II (AD. 1798-1832). Under this royal patronage they flourished, spreading their fame to other royal courts, and went on to become the Samasthana Vidwans at various South Indian courts. Chinnaiah took Bharatanatyam to the Wodeyar court in Mysore. Ponnaiah and Sivanandam stayed in Tanjore under the Maratha patronage. Vadivelu incorporated the use of violin in Carnatic music and created the dance form-Mohiniattam at the request of the Maharaja of Travancore- Swati Tirunal.

The brothers codified the basic adavus (dance units) and defined the margam (repertoire) as we know of today. They also composed a number of allarippus, kauthuvams, varnams, javalis, thillanas, sabdams, and padams. They introduced a different sequence of items into Sadir (it later became Bharatanatyam) which integrated various aspects of dance and music into carefully coordinated, aesthetically sound progression. The remarkable works of the quartet and their infusion of creative energy marks the ealry 19th century as one of the most innovative periods of Bharatanatyam history.

PS: The descendants of the Tanjore Quartet continued to be nattuvanars and dance choreographers. One of the most renowned gurus K P Kittappa Pillai is the great grandson of Sivanandam.

Did you know # 1

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore was the first Vice-President of Kalakshetra from 1936-1941.