Bharatnatyam has been practiced for thousands of years. The art is said to have directly evolved from Lord Shiva known as Lord Nataraja (King of Dance) who is the cosmic dancer. According to 'Abhinaya Darpanam' and 'Natya Sastra', Lord Brahma gave the Natyaveda or the science of dance to Sage Bharata. Bharata presented the art form with a group of Gandharvas (heavenly musicians) and Asparas (heavenly dancers) in the court of Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva having been reminded of his majestic performance instructed Bharata the essence of the art through his followers.
Being pleased with the astute nature of Bharata, Lord Shiva instructed Lasya (graceful movements) through Goddess Parvati. Goddess Parvati also instructed the art to Usha, the daughter of the Sun-God. Usha taught this to the milk-maids of Dwaraka, who in turn taught the art to the women of Saurashtra. From there, the art pervaded the whole world.
Purpose of Dance:
The main purpose of dance is to evoke Rasa, which means sentiment or flavor among the audience.
Abhinaya Darpanam says:
Yatho Hasthas Thatho Dhrishti
Yatho Dhrishtis Thatho Manaha
Yatho Manas Thatho Bhavaha
Yatho Bhavas Thatho Rasaha
This is a very important verse and it means:
Where the Hands go, the Eyes should follow
Where the Eyes go, the Mind should follow suit
Where the Mind goes, the Psychological state should follow
Where the Psychological state goes, Sentiment arises.
A good dancer needs to evoke the sentiment of the audience by following the essence of this verse.
Bharatanatyam is evenly divided between three elements Nritta, Nritya and Natya .
Nritta : Rhythmic Element.Interprits the language of rhythm with the help of body movements.
Nritya : Combination of Rhythm with Expression.Conveys poetic meaning with the help of expressions, rhythmic gaites and postures. eg. Varna, Shabda, Pada etc.
Natya : Dramatic Element.Performing for a theme like Ramayana, Mahabharata etc.
Nritta
Nritta can be broadly divided into Chari, Karana, Angahara and Mandala. Movement of a leg is called Chari. Movement of both the legs is Karana. 3 Karanas make a Khanda. 3 to 4 Khandas make a Mandala. 4 to 9 Karanas make a Angahara. 4 to 5 Angaharas also make a Mandala. 108 Karanas and 32 Angaharas are defined in Natyashatra. The 13 Nritta Hastas (explained later) are used to perform nritta. The rythmic body movements along with hand gestures are called Aduvus. Number of aduvus constitute a Jati. Jati will generally end with a Muktaya or Teermana.
There are varieties of Aduvus like
Tattaduvu
Mettaduvu
Nataduvu
Kattaduvu
Kudittamettaduvu
Maiaduvu
Mandiaduvu
Jati
Nadai
Ardi
There are 12 aduvus in each of the above explained. Hence 120 aduvus exist in total. Only about 70 - 80 are in practice. The aduvus are more or less Karanas. Hence can be concluded that there are 108 aduvus. The 108 Karanas or Aduvus are carved in the Chidambaram Temple in Tanjore, Tamilnadu, India. To perform an aduvu aramandi, bending of the knees is very very important.
Mudras:
The students are taught the various Mudras (hand gestures). Mudras are a means of communication for the dancer to the audience in expressing the theme of the song and the bringing out the essence of the meaning.
They are like words which form the sentence.
In addition to Mudras the dance student will have to master the various:
Shiro beda (Movements of the head)
Drishti beda (Movements of the eyes)
Vaksha beda (Movement of the chest)
Kati beda (Movement of the waist)
Parshva beda (Movement of the side)
Pada beda (Movement of the feet) which is a very important aspect.
Namaskaram
The dancer or the student starts and ends every session of dancing be it a class, practice session or concert with Namaskaram (obeisence). The dancer pays her / his respect to Lord Nataraja, the teacher and the audience with folded hands. She touches Mother Earth and prays for her forgiveness and asks her permission to stamp on
her during the dance.
Margam
Margam is a complete course of Bharatnatyam items that are performed in a concert.
This includes:
Pushpanjali ( meaning - offering respects with flowers. This is the opening piece in which the dancer offers respects to the Lord, teacher and the audience and she / he does Namaskaram)
Alaripu (which is the opening item and is made up of footwork and uses head gestures and eye gestures)
Jathiswaram (this is a pure dance item with intricate foot work and does not involve any Abhinaya or expression of moods)
Shabdam (this involves footwork and for the first time the dancer introduces some Abhinaya)
Varnam (this is the most important piece in any recital and involves Jathi Korvais and Theermans and a theme is elaborated with Abhinaya depending upon the Varnam chosen. The Varnam normally lasts at least for half an hour).
Padams (these are songs of different composers chosen for Abhinaya. They involve very little footwork and mainly use Mudhras and facial expressions to bring out the mood in the song).
Tillana (This is the culminating pure dance item with complex rhythm patterns executed in the form of Korvais and has a short piece of Abhinaya)
Managalam (the dancer ends the recital with Managalam- meaning an auspicious ending. Here, she / he does Namaskaram to conclude the recital)
Rangapravesam or Arangetram
This is the blossoming of the student of Bharatnatyam into a full-fledged artist when she/ he enters the stage for the first time. It normally takes 6 - 8 years of dedicated training and practice to come to this level. The dancer must have at least mastered one whole Margam or complete course. Rangapravesam or Arangetram is only a beginning in the dancer's career. The dancer has to master several aspects of Bharatnatyam and this takes years of dedicated practice.