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Written by Administrator
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Wednesday, 06 April 2005 |
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A Traditional Bharatanatyam repertoire
A Bharatanatyam performance usually has the following items though much of it is not performed now due to lack of time.The credit for shaping the items and setting them largely goes to the Tanjore Quartrette Chinnaiah, Ponnaiah,Shivanadam and Vadivelu.Given below is a list of the items and a small write up describing the uniqueness of each.
Alarippu The word alarippu is a telugu word which means blooming or blossoming .It is the first item that a dancer learns as a student.A simple item which helps the dancer to warm up so that he/she can perform the more complicated items with ease.The dancer moves each part of her body eyes,head,shoulders,hands by turn,and then the whole body.In the end there is a small korvai with which it ends. This is a purely nritta item usually performed to the beat of a mridangam. It is performed as an introductory piece in a dance repertoire.
Jatiswaram As the name suggests it is an item composed of nritta.Korvais are set to lilting melodious swara patterns.Korvais are combinations of adavus.The first korvai in a jatiswaram is called a teermanam.Each korvai is separated by a graceful movement known as "mai adavu".This item is composed of pure dance and has no abhinaya.
Shabdam In this item the dancer introduces abhinaya for the first time in the repertoire.The abhinaya composed to simple sahityam is usually separated by easy korvais.This item is usually in misra chapu taalam and the most common ones are in praise of Lord Krishna.
Varnam Varnam is the central piece of a Bharatnatyam repertoire.In Carnatic music there are two types of Varnam -
Pada Varnam
Tana varnam
Tana varnams are used for dance choreography.The Varnam starts with a teermanam executed in all the three speeds called the "trikala jathi".In the first half each line of the ) is interlinked with one or two complicated teermanams rendered by the nattuvannar.The second half from the charanam is in faster tempo.The charana swaras are set to korvais and the corresponding sahityam is set to abhinaya.
A varnam is the most important peice of a bharatanatyam recital full of complicated jathis and intense abhinaya.It is a true test of a dancers skilsahityam (lyricsl and mastery of both nritta and nritya.
Keertanam As the name suggests a keertanam is a pure abhinaya item.Usually full of Bhakti rasa the dancer extols the virues of the lord and seeks for salvation.I Not a very popular item in the present day repertoire. It is in medium tempo and sometimes is interlinked with some small adavu combinations to increase its charm.A famous keertanam is Natanam Aadinaar in vasantha in praise of Lord shiva.It describes the cosmic dance of the Lord in Chidambaram at the request of the three sages.
Padam A Padam is a pure expressional piece.It is full of shringara Rasa or the love and love related sentiment.It is nayika based and usually is a dialogue between the nayika or her sakhi and the lord.The sakhi or the friend usually describes to the Lord how the nayika is suffering due to his separation and beseeches him to meet her to remove her sorrow.It is in medium tempo and the abhinaya is very intense.The padams are usually in Tamil or Telugu language. A very famous Padam is dari joochu chunnadi .A padam where the Sakhi talks about her friend who is a Vasakka sajjika nayika.She says my friend decorates herself with sandal and her abode with rose water in anticipation of the your arrival. The moonlight increases her love for you,every sound seems like your footfall to her,she is always immersed in your thoughts. Please come and unite with her.
Javali A Javali is also a pure expressional piece in fast tempo.The lyrics are usually in Telugu.This item too is nayika based but differs from padam in that it is in faster tempo and is in colloquial language.The Nayika addresses the lord in the human level and often it is a khandita Nayika who is expressed in Javali.
Ashtapadhi An item based on the great text of the same name written by the renowned author Jayadeva.It is called ashtapadi because each section is composed of eight lines (ashta-8 and pad-verse).It is a dialogue between Radha and Lord Krishna in sanskrit and has spiritual significance in that Radha embodies the Jeevatma seeking to unite with Lord Krishna - the Paramatma.The sakhi or the friend here symbolises the Guru who shows the way for complete salvation. Legend has it that Jayadeva was unable to finish the Ashtapadi and thre Lord himself came in the guise of Jayadeva to write the last lines of this great text when he was away from home.The verses are full of shringara and this is an item where the spiritual aspect of dance is brought to light when shringara is subtly mixed with extreme devotion and spititualism.
Thillana Thillana ,most often the concluding piece of any Bharatanatyam recital is full of sculptersque movements and nritta patterns.An item where the pure nritta combines with lasya to form a complete whole, it starts with graceful body movements which then give way to execution of korvais.There is then a small piece of abhinaya in the end.
Other items: Newer items have been added and some old items are getting less popular. Among them, the Pushpanjaliis a very popular invocatory item that seeks the blessings of god, mother earth, the guru, and the audience, before beginning the recital. Other lesser-performed items include the Aandal, Koratti and the Keertanams.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 06 April 2005 )
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Bharatanatyam 
