Putting it Together

Bharata Natyum

We have started putting a routine together a routine for our final performance. It will have many parts to it. It will have an introduction where we give flowers and do a puja sort of offering to the gods. We have learned the “Alaripoo” which is an introductory combination. It is about three minutes.

It feels great to finally put together all of the steps we have learned. We have thus far really only learned individual steps and some short sequences, but not a full routine. For the past two weeks, we have learned sections and put them together for the first time on the 15^th of November. The routine is also the first time we have done many neck and eye movements with the dancing. There is a series of some very physically intensive steps that have us jumping, it feels good.

For a while it did not seem that Bharata Natyum would have the same sort of physical exhaustion that other dances I have done have. For example, I danced Bhangra for a year on a competitive team. We practiced 8 hours a week and I never left practice without having sweat. We danced for up to 9 minutes straight doing a cardio intensive dance. Other western dances were also physically exhaustive in a way that I had not yet experienced in Bharata Natyum. Putting the steps together though, I realize that it is physically intense.

Putting the steps together also made me feel very accomplished. It is always great knowing that I have completed anything in a new dance style or in a class. Seeing as Bharata Natyum was foreign to me just a few months ago, it feels good to know that I now know one full dance form that I can now do with any dancer. The traditional routines seem very standard across the board. I can now say that I know something about this old tradition. It feels great to be a part of history.

We will be working on other routines for the big performance. We also will have to sing all of the shlokas, or mantras, we know. I do not want to have to sing in public, but it will be nice demonstrating my knowledge. It has also been great having the knowledge of the hand positions and the shlokas. I practice them with my host sister who is also studying traditional dance. I also have friends in the United States who have studied Bharata Natyum and it will be great to share my knowledge with them and share it with my friends who do Western Dance. It will also be great to show my parents and friends videos of my performance.

I guess I just really cannot wait until I have more to show for all my hard word. I look forward to every class. We will be adding more hours per week in the next month so that we can complete the routine. It is exciting. We also will be meeting with a tailor and getting our special outfits. I already have all of my jewelry; I will photograph it later and include it in a later post.    

History of Bharata Natyum

The dance form of Bharata Natyum started in Tamil Nadu, which is the most southern state on the western coast. Bharata Natyum was first written in various ancient texts, like the Natyashastra which is where most of the information of classical dance came from. It was a religious text that also talked about the various deities. One of the lines of the Natyashastra reads that "when the world had become steeped in greed and desire, in jealousy and anger, in pleasure and pain, the Supreme one was asked by people to create an entertainment which could be seen and heard bu all, for the scriptures were not enjoyed by the masses, being too learned and ambiguous." This verse talks about how Bharata Natyum was created to be a religious devotional form that took the place of texts that the majority of people could not read.

In many Hindu temples in South India, Devadasis, people would sing and dance in sanskrit as well as the vernacular. Eventually the dance moved from temples to Royal courts in the 1850's. The dance form remained static for centuries, not changing from its rigid form. It was revitalized in the 19th century by the Thanjavur Quartet, who were four brothers influenced by their musical mentor.

British colonialist rule brought obstacles to the development and the performance of art. They did not want this classical form to be present in modern day culture. The did not allow the dancers to perform at court. Dance took on a negative connotation that it was done for sensual reasons. Dancers were instead performing for the wealthy instead of the politically powerful. The act of dancing became somewhat scandalized.

In the 20th century, it fortunately got revitalized by a mixture of freedom fighters, Westerners into classical arts, and form those who once learnt Bharata Natyum. Bhraman families were also attracted to the art form which helped the dance regain some of its credibility. In addition, major western dancers like Anna Pavlova took an interest in the form. A major contemporary figure in Bharata Natuym, Rukmini Devi, performed in 1935. Devi was a teacher in Madras and she was able to bring a more orthodox audience into Bharata Natyum after it had been so scandalized.

Over time, it has changed and has spread nationally and internationally.