Bharatanatyam

Celebrated art form of Tamil Nadu, Bharatanatyam is a dynamic and earthy dance style. Bharatanatyam is a relatively new name. It was earlier, known as Sadir, Dasi attam, and Thanjavur Natyam.

Bharatanatyam dancers are usually women, always dance bent-kneed, huge repertoire of hand movements A special feature of this dance form are Padams or poems on the hero-heroine theme.

Famous exponents include T Balasaraswathi, Rukmani Devi, Sonal Man Singh, padma Subramaniam, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Yamini Krishnamurthi, Swapnasumdari, Shobha nidu, Raja and Radha Reddy and Vedantanta Satyanarayana.

Famous Gurus include Mohan Mahapatra, Pankaj Cheran Das, Hare Krishna Behra, Mayadhar Rant

Kathak (uttar pradesh)

The Kathak dance form originated in the north

it has a distinct Hindu-Muslim texture. The word Kathak, derived from ‘Katha’, literally means storyteller.

The dances are performed straight-legged and the ankle bells worn by the dancers adeptly controlled. The costumes and themes of these dances are often similar to those in Mughal miniature paintings.

Kathakali (kerala)

Kathakali (Katha= story, Kali-drama) Kerala

The main sources of Kathakali were Kudiattam and Krishnattam, folk drama tradition

It is said that Raja Balavera Keralan created the Ramanattam as a rival to Manaveda’s Krishnattam. Gradually, the dance drama repertory was expanded with episodes from the ‘Mahabhharata The Ramanattam evolved into kathakali.

Fostered in temples, the dance-drama was soon taken out to the popular stage.

Originally a male preserve, Ragini Devi was a poneermy woman to learn the dance form and perform it. Following her came Shanta Rao, Mrinalini Sarabhai, kanak Rele, Rita Gangualy.

The famous gurus who taught there include V Kunju Nair, Krishna Nair, Gopinathan etc

Kathakali draws its themes from the epics and purana, presents the eternal conflict between good and evil in a grand matter.

In the repertory of Kathakali, an interesting item is ‘Thiranottam’ in which an aggressive fierce character, standing close behind a curtain held up by 2 boys, shakes and pulls at the curtain giving glimpses of his headgear, elaborately made-up face and expressive eyes. The dance episode gives a grandeur even to evil characters.

Kathakali, a well-developed dance-drama, is a performance where the actors depict characters from the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and from the Puranas (ancient scriptures).

Huge skirts and head-dress, intricate make-up.

Kuchipudi (andhra pradesh)

Associated with religions, presented only at temples in Andhra. According to tradition, Kuchipudi dance was originally performed only by men but women too participate.

Not elaborate in costumes and makeup. The important characters have different make up and the female characters wear ornaments and jewellery

The most popular Kuchipudi dance is the pot dance in which a dancer keeps a pot filled with water on her head and feet kept on a brass plate.

Today Kuchipudi has come to be reduced from a dance drama to a dance,

Manipuri (manipur)

Manipuri is the classical dance from the Manipur region in the northeast. The body moves with slow, sinuous grace and the undulating arm movements flow into the fingers. The dance form evolved in the 18th century with the advent of the Vaishnava faith, from earlier ritual and magical dance forms. Themes from the Vishnu Purana, Bhagvata Purana and compositions from the Gitagovinda predominate the repertoire.

Dancers  - Jhaveri Sisters- Nayana, Suverna, Ranjana, & Darshana ,  Charu Mathur,  Sadhane Bose , Bipin Singh

Mohiniyattam (kerala)

Mohiniyattam, the female semi-classical dance form of Kerala is said to be older than Kathakali. Literally, the dance of the enchantress, Mohiniyattam was mainly performed in the temple precincts of Kerala.Mohiniyattam maintains a realistic makeup and simple dressing.

The theme of Mohiniyattam is love and devotion to god. Vishnu or Krishna is more often the hero.

It is essentially a solo dance, but in present times it is performed in groups also.

Dancers – Bharati Shivaji, Vyjanthimala, Shanta Rao, Hema Malini.

Odissi

Odissi, traditional dance form of Orissa,  is considered to be one of the oldest surviving dance forms based on archaeological evidence. It owes its origin to the temple dances of the devadasis . Kelucharan Mohapatra,  is the greatest exponent and guru of this ancient dance form.It is a soft, lyrical classical dance.

Gurus – Mohan Mohapatra, Pankaj Charan Das, Hare Krishna Behra, Mayadhar Rant

Dancers – Sanjukta Panigrahi, Sonal Mansingh, Kiran Sehgal, Rani Kama, Madhavi Mudgal

Sattriya (assam)

Sattriya has remained a living tradition since its creation by Assamese Vaishnav saint Srimamta Sankardeva, in 15th C Assam.

Sankardeva created ‘Sattriya Nritya’ as an accompaniment to the ‘Ankuja Naat’ (a form of Assamese one-act plays devised by him), which were usually performed in the ‘Sattars’, Assam’s monastries.

Traditionally, it was performed by musical compositions called ‘borgeets’, based on classical rages.

The instruments that accompany a traditional performance are Khols(drums), taals(cymbals) and the flute. Violin and the harmonium have been recent additions.