Let's Groove The Classical Way!
Music, art and dance, these are the three ways in which any person can express himself or herself, and the most beautiful of the mentioned is dance.
It has been said that the origin of dance in India dates back to 9,000 years ago. India has since then come far from the birth of it to where it is today. In 400 BC, Bharata Muni (sage) gave to India the ‘Nataya Shastra’. The evolution of the same was such that the country got divided almost and at the end each state had its own dance form.
One of the most popular dance forms of India is Bharatanatyam. Originally, this dance was performed by people called devadasis on special occasions in the holy temples and was enjoyed by kings/princes. It has been said that this peculiar dance form has been transferred from generation to generation from the gods themselves.
The tale is sketched in a way wherein gods wished to know a way to express themselves which would be understood by all including the layman because the era of scriptures was coming to an end. As a consequence it was the Great Brahma who created Bharatanatyam. All the lords at the end learned this dance form and they chose disciples whom they trained and passed it on henceforth.
Today, Bharatnatyam is a dance which is taught by many masters and people have received an international acclaim as well. It has been so with the contribution of dancers like Rukmini Devi and Padma Subramaniam who have established this dance form and gave it a face.
Chakiarkoothu, it is an unheard dance form but a dance form close to many hearts. You might be thinking, if it's unheard then why is it close to anyone’s heart? It is because just like Bharatnatyam, Chakiarkoothu is also a temple dance but because of several unknown reasons it remains to be a temple dance even today. So if you want to watch this dance, then you need to go to some real old temple in Kerala.
A dance form that has taken the entire north of India into its charm is Kathak; this exciting dance style has its origins from the Holy Scriptures. Kathak is a beautiful combination of mime and movement of eyes. The passionate nature of these actions can make any audience mesmerised.The themes of Radha-Krishna, Shiva-Parvati, and mythological characters finds a place of prominence in a Kathak dancer’s repertoire. Today, experiments are being done with group choreography exploring the dance form. Dancers from both the genders perform Kathak, which is structured to present dance dramas with influence.
Moving down to South, we have Kathakali. Many including me initially used to think that Kathakali is a part of Kathak but after a lot of years, I stood corrected. Kathakali is enacted to personify heroes and devils having fierce battles with Satya winning over Asatya i.e. good over evil.
The beauty of this depiction is that the message is not conveyed with words but, in fact through the beautiful makeup done by the artists and their costumes which are unique to each and every character and hence, it makes the tale very clear to the audience. It is overwhelmingly dramatic and pleasant to watch this art, better not miss a chance to this.
A beautiful dance connected to rural Karnataka is ‘Yaksha Gana’. A perfect mixture of dance and drama having music at its core. The 400-year-old dance has Kannada as its language and like the other dance forms it is based on Hindu epics. The costumes are inspired by Kathakali and they look fantastic. The Natya Sastra says that Yaksha Gana always has a Sutra Dhara (conductor) & a Vidushaka (the Jester).
So, if you ever come to India, don't miss the opportunity to see these beautiful dance forms and experience their glory.