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Classical Dance of India
- Ms Vidya Murthy K

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The different styles of classical Indian dance were practiced and perfected by creative artistes in different regions even during periods of upheaval and lack of social patronage. Family traditions, called the sampradayas grew within these styles. The masters were the repositories of an invaluable oral tradition, and as such preserved and nurtured it. They frequently contributed to its growth inspite of the lack of basic education or academic knowledge of unfamiliarity with the Sanskrit language. The dance which was passed on as oral tradition was modified, codified and stylized for urban population. The stylization and crystallization were done by eminent scholar gurus (teachers) with the help of different sources which were classified mainly into four categories. Those are literary, epigraphical, Inscriptional and paintings. (1) Literary :- Process of codification of Indian classical dances depended basically on five major works which are Natya Sastra, Abhinaya Darpana, Vishnudharnottara puranam, sangeeta ratnakara, Nritta rathnavali. a) Natya Sastra:- Bharata Muni is the author of the dramaturgy called “Natya Sastra” which was composed during 2nd century B.C. In this text there are about 6000 slokas (hymns) divided into 36 chapters describing the aspects of dance & drama. The creation of “Natya Veda” as “Panchama or fifth Veda” was done by Bharata. He took literature from Rigveda, Music from “Samaveda”, abhinaya (Expression) from Yajurveda and Rasa (Aesthetic Pleasure) from Atharvana Veda. According to Bharata “There is no wise maxim, no learning, no art or craft, no device, no action that is not found in the drama”. The drama is an imitation of the behaviour of people which is full of different emotions exhibited according to the situations. In drama all joys and sorrows which occur in day to day life of man are depicted with the help of different elements. It depicts the actions of various types of people categorized as uttama (superiors), Madhyama (Ordinary) and adhama (Inferior). Dancing is considered as having three principal and distinct aspects called Nritta, Nritya and Natya. Nritta implies pure and simple dance using body as a medium for the beautification of the movement but not conveying any special meaning to the beholder. Whereas Nritya is a dance which conveys the meaning of the song, expressing the theme with the usage of suggestive facial expression, hand gestures and symbolic poses. NATYA:- It is alike Nritya consisting expression, feet movement, hand gestures etc., In addition, it has the element of “Drama” which is introduced through the use of spoken words. In Natya Sastra Bharata deals mainly with eleven aspects. These eleven aspects are capsuled into one hymn (sloka) by him. “Rasabhavabhinayaha Dharmivritti Pravrittamaha Siddhi swaraha tatatodhyam ganam rangascha sangrahad”. 1. Rasa (Aesthetic Pleasure):- Rasa is the impression created on the mind of the sympathetic audience by the expression of emotions. These Rasas are:- Srinagara (Erotic), Hasya (Humourous), Karuna (Pathetic), Roudra (Furious), Veera (Valour), Bhayanaka (Horrific), Bibhatsa (Repugnant), Adbhuta (wonder) and Shanta (peace). 2. Bhava :- The expression of emotion creates rasa in the audience. This emotion is called Bhava: Dominant emotions (Sthayi Bhava) Transitory emotions (Sanchari Bhavas) and Responsive emotions (Satvika Bhava) are three different types of emotions mentioned by Bharata. 3. Abhinaya (Expression):- Abhinaya is a mode of expression or enactment. Through expression dancer communicates the message or theme to the audience, (a) Angikabhinaya (Physical representation) is the movement of body as one unit, (b) Vachikabhinaya (verbal expression) covers the prose part of the dance, (c) Aharyabhinaya (costume & make-up). A visual aspect in which Identification of a character is done through the costume and make-up in the drama. (d) Sattvikabhinaya – (Psycho-physical representation) It is the representation of the mental state of the character. 4. Dharmi (Modes of presentation) – According to Bharata two types of Dharmi’s or representations are there: (a) Lokadharmi – Representation in a natural day to day way of life whereas (b) Natyadharmi is a stylized way of representation. 5. Vritti: (Styles of Rendering):- There are four ways of rendering. Verbal (Bharati), Grand (Sattvati), energetic (Arabhati) and Graceful (Kaiseki). 6. Pravritti:- Identification of people through regional variations:- southern region (Dakshinatya), western region (Avanthi), Eastern region (oddramagadhi) and Northern region (Panchala Madhyama). 7. Siddhi:- This represents the success of the play. The success of the play is a combined culminative effort of the actors, director, producers, technicians & audience. 8. Swara:- The notes of the music. There are seven notes of the music which are basis for both music and dance. Sa, re, ga, ma, pa, da, ni & sa. 9. Athodya:- This describes the different Instruments used for music and dance orchestrisation. String, wind, metal & percussion or leather instruments used for music. 10. Gana:- A set of meaningful words with the principles of swara and tala (time measure) when sung is called Gana. 11. Rangam:- The last aspect is the theatre i.e., the construction of theatre which is ideal for the presentation of drama. It can be square, triangular or rectangular theatre. The theory and technique of Indian dance is an integral part of this conception of dance and drama and cannot be understood without realizing the full implications of these assertions, which have been made by Bharata Muni. (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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