Pariksha SaathiLesson 5 of 10 · Indian Art and Culture
Classical Dances of India: The Eight Forms, Their Texts and Exponents
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Roots in the Natya Shastra
Every Indian classical dance traces its grammar to the Natya Shastra of Bharata Muni, compiled roughly between the second century BCE and the second century CE and called the fifth Veda. It divides performance into nritta (pure dance of rhythm and movement), nritya (expressive dance that conveys meaning) and natya (drama). It names four kinds of abhinaya or expression: angika (body), vachika (speech and song), aharya (costume and make-up) and sattvika (inner feeling). Its theory of rasa lists eight emotional flavours, to which shanta (peace) was added later. Nandikeshvara's Abhinaya Darpana is the other key text, especially for hand gestures (hastas or mudras). Dance is also divided into tandava, vigorous and linked with Shiva, and lasya, graceful and linked with Parvati.
What makes a dance classical
The Sangeet Natak Akademi, the national academy of music, dance and drama set up in 1953, recognises eight classical dances. The Ministry of Culture's list also includes Chhau, which is why some books count nine. They share a codified technique going back to these texts, a fixed repertoire, a guru-shishya line of teaching and roots in temple or court performance. Folk dances, by contrast, belong to communities and seasons and have no written grammar.
Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi
Bharatanatyam of Tamil Nadu grew out of Sadir, danced by devadasis in temples. The Tanjore Quartet, four brothers at the court of the Maratha ruler Serfoji II in the early 19th century, fixed its concert order (margam): alarippu, jatiswaram, shabdam, varnam, padam and tillana. In the 1930s E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale revived and renamed it, and Rukmini Devi founded Kalakshetra at Madras in 1936; T. Balasaraswati is its other great name. A solo dancer often plays many roles (ekaharya), and the half-seated araimandi is its basic stance. Kuchipudi takes its name from a village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh; Siddhendra Yogi shaped it as a dance-drama performed by Brahmin men, with Bhama Kalapam as its classic piece. In its tarangam the dancer moves on the rim of a brass plate, sometimes with a pot of water on the head. Vempati Chinna Satyam modernised it, and Yamini Krishnamurthy and Raja and Radha Reddy made it famous.
Kathakali and Mohiniyattam
Kerala has two classical forms. Kathakali, a 17th-century dance-drama that grew from Ramanattam and Krishnattam, tells stories from the epics through a strict gesture language, with chenda and maddalam drums and singers, and was traditionally danced by men through the night. Its make-up shows character: pacha (green) for noble heroes, kathi (knife) for proud villains, thadi (beard) in red, white and black types, kari (black) for demonesses and forest dwellers, and minukku (radiant) for women and sages. The poet Vallathol Narayana Menon founded the Kerala Kalamandalam in 1930 to revive it. Mohiniyattam, the dance of Mohini, the enchantress form of Vishnu, is a graceful solo dance of women in white and gold with gentle swaying movements; Swati Tirunal of Travancore patronised it, Vallathol revived it at Kalamandalam, and Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma is called its mother.
Kathak
Kathak, from katha (story), began with temple storytellers (kathakars) of north India and grew in the Mughal and Nawabi courts; it is usually described as the only classical dance wedded to Hindustani music. Its signatures are fast footwork (tatkar) with ankle bells, rapid spins (chakkars) and storytelling through gesture. The Lucknow gharana, patronised by Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, stresses grace and expression; the Jaipur gharana stresses footwork and rhythm; Banaras is a third gharana. Bindadin Maharaj of Lucknow and his family line, down to Shambhu Maharaj and Birju Maharaj, shaped the modern form, and Sitara Devi and Kumudini Lakhia are other famous names.
Odissi
Odissi of Odisha is often called the oldest surviving classical dance on archaeological evidence: dancing figures were carved more than 2,000 years ago in the Rani Gumpha of the Udayagiri caves near Bhubaneswar. It was kept alive by the maharis, temple dancers of Jagannath at Puri, and by the gotipuas, boys dressed as girls, and Jayadeva's 12th-century Gita Govinda supplies much of its lyric. Its two basic positions are the chowk, a square stance, and tribhanga, the body bent at head, torso and knee. It was reconstructed in the 1950s, and Kelucharan Mohapatra, Sanjukta Panigrahi and Sonal Mansingh are its great names.
Manipuri and Sattriya
Manipuri grew out of the ancient ritual festival Lai Haraoba and took its Vaishnava form under King Bhagyachandra in the 18th century, centred on the Ras Lila of Krishna and the gopis. Women wear a stiff, cylindrical embroidered skirt (kumil) and a veil; movements are soft and rounded, no ankle bells are worn, and men perform the vigorous Pung Cholom (drum dance) and Kartal Cholom. Rabindranath Tagore brought Manipuri to Santiniketan, and Guru Bipin Singh and the Jhaveri sisters spread it. Sattriya of Assam was created by Srimanta Sankardeva in the 15th-16th centuries as part of his Ankiya Naat one-act plays and preserved in the sattras, Vaishnava monasteries, by male monks. The Sangeet Natak Akademi recognised it as classical on 15 November 2000; Guru Jatin Goswami is a leading exponent.
Key facts
- Natya Shastra (Bharata Muni): nritta = pure dance, nritya = expressive dance, natya = drama; four abhinayas: angika, vachika, aharya, sattvika; eight rasas, shanta added later.
- Tandava = vigorous dance linked with Shiva; lasya = graceful dance linked with Parvati; Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeshvara is the key text on hand gestures.
- Bharatanatyam: earlier Sadir; margam fixed by the Tanjore Quartet under Serfoji II; renamed and revived by E. Krishna Iyer and Rukmini Devi Arundale, who founded Kalakshetra in 1936.
- Kuchipudi: village in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh; Siddhendra Yogi; Bhama Kalapam; tarangam on the rim of a brass plate; Vempati Chinna Satyam.
- Kathakali make-up: pacha (green) = noble hero, kathi = proud villain, thadi = bearded types, kari (black) = demoness, minukku = women and sages; Kerala Kalamandalam founded by Vallathol in 1930.
- Mohiniyattam: solo dance of women in white and gold, patronised by Swati Tirunal; Kalamandalam Kalyanikutty Amma is called its mother.
- Kathak: tatkar and chakkars; Lucknow gharana (Wajid Ali Shah, expression), Jaipur gharana (footwork), Banaras; Birju Maharaj and Sitara Devi.
- Odissi: chowk and tribhanga; earliest evidence in the Rani Gumpha of Udayagiri; maharis and gotipuas; Kelucharan Mohapatra.
- Manipuri: Ras Lila under King Bhagyachandra, kumil skirt, no ankle bells, Pung Cholom; Tagore took it to Santiniketan.
- Sattriya: created by Srimanta Sankardeva in the Ankiya Naat of Assam's sattras; recognised as classical by the Sangeet Natak Akademi on 15 November 2000.
Quick revision
Natya Shastra (Bharata): nritta, nritya, natya; 4 abhinayas; 8 rasas; SNA (1953) recognises 8 classical dances (Ministry of Culture list adds Chhau); Bharatanatyam-TN (Sadir, Tanjore Quartet, Rukmini Devi, Kalakshetra 1936); Kuchipudi-AP (Siddhendra Yogi, tarangam); Kathakali-Kerala (pacha, Kalamandalam 1930); Mohiniyattam-Kerala; Kathak (tatkar, chakkar, Lucknow-Jaipur-Banaras); Odissi (tribhanga, chowk); Manipuri (Ras Lila, kumil); Sattriya-Assam (Sankardeva, 2000).