Indian dance
Some words about Indian Dance
Styles of dance
basically there are two main styles :
Bharat Natyam - The dance of the temples of South India, based
on carnatic music.
Kathak- The dance of North India based on hindustani compositions.
These two styles have many similarities. Basically, the dances are descriptive
and tell about religious or mythological histories from India. A series
of gesture, hand and facial expressions are used to this purpose.
The rythm are performed mainly with the feets and follow closely the
music. The relationship between music and dance is one of the most interesting
aspect of the Indian performing arts.
We shall describe shortly bharat natyam.
Performance
Usually the bharat natyam dancer is alone (not a rule), and performs
with the orchestra situated on the side of the stage. The dancer will follow
closely the music and the cymbal strokes which mark the start and various
accents of the taala-s.
The dancer will start often with an offering to the gods, but also
a salutation to the audience and to the musicians. He will then start the
various phases of the choregraphy. Some are joyful and spectacular rhythmic
demonstrations (tillana). Others are descriptive and tell
stories just as a mime would do. A series of facial expressions and hand
gestures allow the dancer to represent numerous symbols, gods, flowers,
animals and objects. These are the means he will use in order to tell the
story and make it clear to the audience. .The various phases of the dance
correspond to compositions with different styles and tempos, carrying such
names as pushpanjali, alaripu, jatisvaram, varnam etc..
Instruments
The dance orchestra of bharat natyam is usually made of
- A vocalist
- A dance leader playing nattuvangam, the little hand held cimbals,
and counting the talam.
- A soloist. Usually the flute, else the violin.
- A percussionist, usually the mridangam.
Composition
The music follows the raaga and taala system from South
India, similar to North India. The main characteristic is that the music
is "written", so that dancers and performers can memorise it.
The carnatic music uses an important variety of raaga, which
are classified along a logical method. The name of the notes, Sa Re Ga
etc... are identical to the ones of hindustani music. Unlike North Indian
composition, a carnatic composition can have many different ragas following
each other.
There is also an important variety of rythmic cycles, the taala-s.
These are usually sets of bars of 2/4, 3/4 or 4/4, adding to the length
of the cycle.
The bars are counted with the help of hand gestures and spoken syllables
-the jati-s. For instance 3/4 is counted ta ki ta and
4/4 will be counted ta ka di mi.
Consequently 7/4 will be counted ta ka di mi / ta ki ta.
Unlike Hindustani music, where the counting syllables refer directly
to tabla sounds - the bol-s - , the jati of carnatic
music are solfege units, and can be used by all performers, musicians and
dancers as a common counting unit.
An analogy could be made with the ta ti ti ta, of the Kodaly and related
methods.
On these basic taala-s, a succession of rythmic variations will
be built, using a variety of syllables as "tei tei tei didi te, ta dhi
tom nam, taka tari kita thom nam..."
Learn the Bharat Natyam dance with Natacha Volodin (teaching the Raghuraman style) at the Sangit Music & Dance Summer Seminar, Rossignol, Belgium, August 25-30, 2000. Seminar.
Bibliography
Ludwig Pesch "The Companion to South Indian Music", and "Eloquent Percussion"
Daniel Schell, Transcriptions (in staff notation) of a Pushpanjali,
Alarippu, jathiswaram, thillana.
DM Kandhai "De klassieke dans van India" (in Dutch)
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