Bharatanatyam South Indian Classical dance and music.

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Bharatanatyam South Indian Classical dance and music

Transcript of Bharatanatyam South Indian Classical dance and music.

Page 1: Bharatanatyam South Indian Classical dance and music.

Bharatanatyam

South Indian Classical dance

and music

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The dance is inspired from the sculptures of the ancient temple of Chidambaram.

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A short history of Bharatanatyam

Bharat Natyam was developed by mixing elements from the earlier forms of dance: Dassi Attam and Sadr.  Dassi Attam was a dance form of the Devadasis or temple dancing girls while Sadr was a form found in the palaces of southern India.Devadas

i

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Origin of the word Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam, is the combination of: BHA- Bhava (Expression) RA-Raga (Music, melody) and TA- Tala (Rhythm). 

It is a traditional dance- form known for its grace, purity, tenderness, and sculpturesque poses.

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The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Indian classical music called Carnatic. Its main emphasis is on vocal music.

Most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gāyaki (singing) style.

Tyagaraja was one of the greatest composers of Carnatic music or classical South Indian music.

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Musical instruments for Bharatanatyam

The instruments used are the veena, bansuri or venu, mridangam, violin, manjira or thalaam , tambura and the kanjira.

Veena

Venu

Mridangam 6

Manjira

Violin

Kanjira

Tambura

Surpeti

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The Veena

The veena is 1.5m long and is made from jackwood. It has a

large, round body with a thick, wide neck, the end of which is

carved as the head of a dragon. A small resonator is attached to the underside of the neck. The

veena has 24 metal frets.

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Parts of the veenaMelody is produced on four metal strings that run above the frets. These are stretched over a wide bridge that sits on the body of the veena.

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The Mridangam

The mridangam is a PITCHED drum

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The violin

• The South Indian violin is almost identical to the Western violin; the main difference is its playing position.  It is traditionally played, sitting cross-legged, with the scroll placed on the artist’s right ankle, the back of the violin resting on the artist’s left shoulder ,collar bone, or chest.

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TheKanjira

The Kanjira is a frame drum of the tambourine family. It features only one metal jingle.

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The Manjira or Thalaa

Manjiras are double handed cymbals used as a metronome to keep the beat and measure.

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The tanpura or tambura

• Tanpura is a four string drone instrument.  The word "tanpura“ is common in the north, but in south India it’s called a "tambura“. The favourite for Carnatic musicians is the Tajore style tambura.  It is about 3 to 5 feet long Resonators are almost always made of wood.

Tajore style tambura

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The surpeti or shruti box• The surpeti, also called shruti box, is

another Indian drone instrument.  That’s all it provides.  There are two basic forms, one is manual and the other is electronic.

• The manual surpeti is similar to the harmonium. However unlike the harmonium, it has no keys, and can play no melody.  It is pumped by small bellows with the hand. Carnatic musicians prefer the manual surpeti.

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The Bharatanatyam dancers complement the music with Gungharoo bells attached to their

ankles.

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• The dance direction is done by ‘the Nattuvanar’

• One or two vocalists normally accompany the Nattuvanar.

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• The Nattuvanar is the person who directs a bharatanatyam performance by reciting rhythmical syllables and playing manjiras, The texts are based on South Indian rhythm.

Indian scale

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The three elements of Bharatanatyam

Bharatanatyam is evenly divided between three elements:

Nritta :

Nritya :

Natya : 

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“Nritta” or pure dance, is the movement of hands and feet on rhythm and speed. These movements do not convey meaning, emotion or theme but are used to create a collage of rhythmic lines, forms and shapes .

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“Nritya” is the interpretative element of the dance. It exhibits the meaning of the song and conveys the underlying emotion with hand gestures and facial expressions.

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Natya is the more dramatic element of Bharatanatyam. Since it is almost entirely made of hand gestures, it has been compared to sign language but with a more stylized effect. The theme of this third part is almost always taken from the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

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The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India. It contains the teachings of ancient Hindu sages and presents them in narrative allegory interspersed with philosophical and devotional elements.A Ramlila actor

wears the traditional attire of Ravana

Rama seated on the shoulders of Hanuman,battles the demon-king Ravana.

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The Mahabharata is the other major Sanskrit epic depicting Hindu "history“, especially the battle of Kurukshetra.