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Cultural Heritage and Role of Dance in India
Especially in Andhra Pradesh
- Ms Vidya Murthy K

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The harmonious blending of art, religion, and philosophy comprised the sacred tradition of the Indian Culture and gave man the sense of totality of the Universe. Dance

Culture is the very spice and flavour of life, setting its course, fixing its standards & determining its quality. Life without culture is intolerable & could be equated to mere animal existence. Hinduism is said to be a living religion. Each mythological story has a moral that teaches very simply the ethics of daily life and its relationship to the transcedental. This is, however, at a very simple human level, which has led to a certain informality in a number of styles of interpretation, and the transcedental can often seem quite mundane when interpreted. Man created art, the art of dance is the oldest of all arts through which man found a channel to exhibit his instincts and emotions. There are number of traditions of the performing arts in the vast geographical area. All are characterised by a staggering multiplicity of genres, forms, styles and techniques. The traditions as prevalent in different regions of the sub-continent and at different levels of the society can be clearly identified both in terms of the evolution of artistic form and style in time and its Socio-cultural milieu in space.

Layers of different moments of time can be identified in a Seemingly contemporary form. Establishing, thus, a characteristic of the cultural patterns, within which traditions of the performing arts flourished, becomes a highly abstract approach, an abstraction which on one hand guides the spirit of these forms, providing the fundamental unity or continuity and a sense of timelessness, and on the other is marked by an equal preoccupation with multiple concrete and varied forms and `time – present’ which accounts for change and continual flux. Dance grew parallel to the society. A pervasive tribal belt passes through all parts of India. The dances of these tribal groups can be clearly identified and classified on the basis of anthropological, ethnical, racial factors. Nearly 38 million people of Indian belong to this category, their dance and music are examples of vigorous folk, traditional and classical styles. These tribes make little or no distinction between verbal and non-verbal systems and techniques. Expression is total. In the next agrarian stage of food gathering there is a variety of magical fertility rites the immediacy of life experiences is recalled in Sound, rhythm and movement. Dramatic actions make its appearance for the first time. Naturally, the spoken word and gesture assume a definite position. The artistic form is conditioned by the rites. These tribal and folk dances range from simple joyous celebrations of the seasons, of the harvest or the birth of a child to ritualistic dances to propitiate demons to propitiate demons and invoke spirits. There are dances involving balancing tricks with pitches full of water, or Jugglery with knives. Quite a few highlight activities like fishing, ploughing and thereshing. Some dances are extremely simple with a minimum of steps or movements. Most burst with verve and vitality. The costumes are flamboyant with extensive use of jewellery. Mostly, both men and women perform together and involve in singing with usage of folk instruments. Rauf of Kashmir, Mask dances of Ladhak & Darjeeling, Kud dance of Jammu, Mahasu of Himachal Pradesh is slow in movement. Bhangra of Punjab is famous for leaps and Jumps. Dhamal, Phag, Guga, loor etc. of Haryana, Ghoomar of Rajasthan Garba & Dandiya raas of Gujarat, Lavani of Maharashtra, Bihu of Assam, Pattida Kunita of Karnataka, Koklikatai of Tamil Nadu, Banjara & Koya dances of Andhra are a few to name. There are hundreds of folk dances in India, which give lot of colour and gaiety while performed. In India many pageants, tableaux and local forms of dances and dance dramas developed from both the pure recitative word and its consequential interpretation through gestures, mime and song. The local variations of the epics have been considered as the permeation of the great tradition. These local and regional forms in turn shaped many literary versions of the epics. Apart from village community there is a group of professional singers, dancers, musicians and actors, who are differently classified all over India. For them performance is a vocation, not a social tribal or agricultural function. They move from place to place. It is this group of people, which has been responsible for the mobility of ideas, forms and styles between the villages and urban centres. They have also been the vehicles of expressions of protest, dissent and reform, the carriers of reform movements and the articulators of Satire and Social comment and thus the instruments of Social cultural change. We can divide the history of dance into three or four periods: (1) the first prehistoric and protohistoric. This period comprises the evidence found in the cave paintings, engravings, the evidence of Mohenjadaro and the Harappan Civilization and the literary evidence, which can be had from the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahmanas and the epics. (2) The second period may be considered from the 2nd century B.C. to the ninth century A.D. This includes the monuments of Buddhist stupas such as those of Bharhut, Sanchi, Baja, Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and the caves of Ellora. (3) The third period is from tenth or eleventh to eighteenth century A.D. There was a marked development of regional, architectural, sculptural, pictorial, music and dance styles along with the development of regional literature. (4) The fourth period is from the late 18th or 19th Century to contemporary India. While the Mohenjadaro was an urban civilization, the Rigvedic Society was pastoral and nomadic with many in-built systems of social cohesiveness and mobility. From vedas emerged the magic ritual gestures and the symbolic use of the body, foundation for expression and meaning which is termed as magical, ritualistic, esoteric, the concept of margi and desi tells us of the acceptance. In aesthetics, this framework of the arts was recognised and articulated by the mythical Indian theoretician, 'Bharata Muni' as early as 3rd century B.C., He conceived of the theatrical spectacle as a total amalgam of all media and genres ranging from the spoken word to vocal, instrumental music, gesture, mime, stage décor, costumes and finally, the inner states of being. He recognised the two levels of performance in the concept of naturalistic (Loka, real) and stylized conventions (Natya) of the stage. He saw style as a mode of presentation ranging from the grand to the verbal, from the lyrical to the introspective. He also recognised the emergence of the regional variants in the concept of Pravrittis (Regional Identity). The theatrical spectacle depends on the spoken or sung word alone, as also in its multiple interpretation through movement. A different order of relationship of the sound, movement and gesture emerges in the street and pageant forms. Here the literary word is set to melodic line, in a given metrical cycle, and is then interpreted either descriptively or symbolically by the dancer. Distinct geometrical patterns guide their articulation techniques. The use of the human body as a vehicle of expression and communication was not restricted to what is termed normally as `dance’ or movement. It was brought to the aid of the word, Vak, whose primary was unquestioned at all levels, particularly the village and urban levels. On the word was superimposed the melodic note: the two together provided the essential prerequisites for interpretation through movement. The colour symbolism of the physical environment, costumes, make-up, head-gear all reinforced the other levels. These communities were labled as folk-theatre, dance or drama and traditional dance drama. The theatre spectacle contains a wide variety ranging from myth, legend, epics, lyrical poetry based on works like Gita Govinda, to social comedy satire, earthy banter and pure innovation based on local history and political developments. The theme is concerned with eternity at one level; it also invariably has a local colour and contemporary validity. The two levels of meaning are in-built into the dramatic structure. The traditional dances like Burrakatha, Yakshgnanas, Koodiyattam, Krishnattam, Veedhi bhagavatam are taken from epics and used to be staged in the joints of four streets. These dance – dramas were performed for days together in the night with lit lamps throughout the night. The dance is, at its peak, a miraculous form of transfiguration. The personality of the dancer is metamorphosed. In this rhythmic yoga of expression the dancer induces trance, ecstasy and the whole gamut of human emotions, transcended into an experience of the Divine 'within'. He achieves a realization of his own secret nature and a final merging into his own creator. That is why Shiva, that Arch Yogi of the Gods is the 'King of Dancers'. Gods, demons, animals, all the constellations of the heavens and things of this earth, are transmuted by the dancer into a living reality. What makes a dance classical? The style of dance, which has the sanctity of an authoritative ancient treatise, like 'Natya Sastra'. An art form of this stature is not created overnight but is evolved over a long period of time. Then its technique is stylised, crystallised, codified, and its projection conforms to a particular and Pedetermined pattern of conscious artistry. Emotion, necessary concomitant of every expressional art, is intrinsic to the classical dance too, but far from being instinctive or impulsive here it is engendered though the performers express volition and is ruled by the intellect. Unlike folk dance, classical dance is performed not so much for the participant’s own satisfaction as for that of another; consequently classical dance presupposes the existence of not only the performer but also the beholder, and it is only when rapport is established between the two that the implicit function of the dance can be said to have been fulfilled. While in folk dance the performer may imbibe the technique merely through exposure to the form concerned, in classical dance this can by and large be achieved only through instruction. And finally, it can also be said that classical dance is a dance that has stood the test of time; it is dance that stems from the inspiration and work of the individual rather than of the collective; it is dance that not only affords appeal to the senses but also stimulates the intelligence of performer and spectator alike. A fundamental attribute of all Indian classical dance forms is that they have sprung from the religious urges of the people and for their thematic content depend almost on the rich mythological lore of Hindus. The technique of all Indian classical forms is based on 'Natya Sastra' i.e. 'The treatise on dramaturgy'. Major schools of Indian classical dance forms are Kuchipudi, Bharata Natyam, Kathakali, Mohini-attam, Kathak, Odissi & Manipuri. These forms are taught by eminent gurus who used oral tradition, which was passed on from generation to generation. The richness of Indian dance has remained in all its variety through the centuries. The human being has sought solace in the abondonment of the body, evoking a power that will bless and enlighten. It is as though the simple rhythm of the body, as it moves, becomes one with the universal rhythm of the spheres. That this is possible – is the sacred message of Indian dance. (Vidya Murthy, M.A. & M.P.A (Dance) is the Founder Secretary of Nartana Academy of Performing Arts, 197, Jawahar Nagar, Moula – Ali, Hyderabad – 500 040)

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