CLASSICAL DANCE OF INDIA | History| L-13|

Indian Classical Dances

Excavations, inscriptions, chronicles, genealogies of kings and artists, literary sources, sculpture and painting of different periods provide extensive evidence on dance in India.

Contemporary classical dance forms have evolved out of the musical play or sangeet-nataka performed from the 12th century to the 19th century.

The Indian classical dances have two basic aspects – Tandava (movement & rhythm) and Lasya (grace, bhava & rasa).

The three main components are-

Natya (the dramatic element of the dance i.e. the imitation of characters)

Nritta (the dance movements in their basic form)

Nritya (expressional component i.e. mudras or gestures).

The nine rasas are – Love, Heroism, Pathos, Humour, Anger, Fear, Disgust, Wonder and Peace. The Natya Shastra written by Bharat Muni is the most prominent source for the Indian aestheticians for establishing the characteristics of the dances.

Classical Dances of India

Bharatnatyam (Tamil Nadu)

The Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara is one of the main sources of textual material, for the study of the technique and grammar of body movement in Bharatnatyam Dance.

Bharatnatyam dance is known to be ekaharya, where one dancer takes on many roles in a single performance.

The dance involves transitional movements of leg, hip and arm. Expressive eye movements and hand gestures are used to convey emotions.

Kathak (North India)

The word Kathak has been derived from the word Katha which means a story.

It was primarily a temple or village performance wherein the dancers narrated stories from ancient scriptures.

Kathak began evolving into a distinct mode of dance in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries with the spread of the bhakti movement.

Kathakali (Kerala)

Chakiarkoothu, Koodiyattam, Krishnattam and Ramanattam are few of the ritual performing arts of Kerala which have had a direct influence on Kathakali in its form and technique.

Kathakali is a blend of dance, music and acting and dramatizes stories, which are mostly adapted from the Indian epics.

Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh)

Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh which has a very long tradition of dance-drama. It was known under the generic name of Yakshagaana.

In 17th century Kuchipudi style of Yakshagaana was conceived by Siddhendra Yogi. He was steeped in the literary Yakshagaana tradition being guided by his guru Teerthanaaraayana Yogi who composed the Krishna-Leelatarangini, a kaavya in Sanskrit.

Mohiniyattam (Kerala)

Mohiniyattam or dance of Mohini (an incarnation of Lord Vishnu) is the classical solo dance form of Kerala.

References of Mohiniyattam can be found in the texts Vyavaharamala written in 1709 by Mazhamagalam Narayanan Namputiri and in Ghoshayatra, written later by poet Kunjan Nambiar.

Odissi (Odisha)

The major subjects of performance are lores of incarnations of Lord Vishnu and verses of Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda.

A soft dance backed by soothing lyrics and is similar to Bharatanatyam in terms of the mudras and expressions.

Termed as ‘mobile sculpture’ it incorporates two major postures – Tribhanga (the body is deflected at the neck, torso and the knees) and Chowk (a position imitating a square).

Sonal Mansingh and Kelucharan Mohapatra are the eminent performer.

Sattriya (Assam)

The Sattriya dance form was introduced in the 15th century A.D by the Vaishnava saint and reformer of Assam, Sankaradeva as a medium for propagation of the Vaishnava faith.

The dance form evolved and expanded as a distinctive style of dance later on.

Manipuri (Manipur)

The origin of Manipuri dance can be traced back to ancient times that go beyond recorded history.

The dance in Manipur is associated with rituals and traditional festivals, there are legendary references to the dances of Shiva and Parvati and other gods and goddesses who created the universe.

Lai Haraoba is the earliest form of dance which forms the basis of all stylised dances in Manipur.