Essay --

Blair Khoker Religion and the Arts Professor Wendy Raver December 16th, 2013 Bharata Natyam The word â€Å"Bharata† comes from a combination of three main elements in Indian dance; Mood (bhava), melody (raga), and rhythmic timing (tala). The word â€Å"Natyam† means both dancing and acting. Bharata Natyam is from South Indian, specifically Tamil Nad. This dance style has been preserved mostly in the beautiful ancient temples and areas of Tanjore and Madras. South India has many sculptures of Gods and Goddesses who are lavishly decorated and ornamented and who show the art, religion, and culture of the country. Enakshi Bhavani describes these beautiful shrines and religious areas as being â€Å"an atmosphere of ancient India linger[ing] with a compelling fragrance† (28). Where this dance style originated is very important to how it is viewed today in modern times and western societies. In India, there are still ancient areas in which the traditions and teachings of Bharata Natyam are being studied, but how these teachings evolved into modern society is i mportant in understanding its religious impact on the Indian community. Bharata Natyam embodies three basic aspects of classical Indian dancing; The pure dance, dance embodying an expressive mood and dance containing a dramatic element. It must be strongly emphasized that Bharata Natyam in its true and proper form is studied in a very intense manner. In some cultures the dance is done to invoke gods and enact mythological events. The dancers go through immense amounts of training in order to be able to control every muscle in their body. The technical ingredients for physical mastery are swiftness, precision, suppleness, strength, instincts for time, agility, and lightness; but, one of the most i... ...yday lives and into a spellbound state of beauty. In the Bharata Natyam the dance techniques of pure dance consists of a number of combinations of postures. These combinations include the movement and coordination of the body, waist, arm, hand, leg, foot, head, and neck to various sets of words and beats. Beautiful gestures and arm positions combine to form the general beauty of posture. There are about 120 basic dance arrangements which can be further combined into hundreds of varieties of patterned dance movements. Although, dancers usually learn about forty to seventy basic movements and then study the intricate dances that include them. A recital or individual performance can go from one and a half hours to four hours long. Every performance in made up of the following parts (given in sequence), Alarippu, Jethiswaram, Shabdam,Varnam, Padam(s), and Thillana. â€Æ'