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In India dance is considered to
be divine in origin. The gods and goddesses not only take great
delight in dance, drama and mime but many are great dancers
themselves. Shiva's cosmic dance, Tandava, is believed to
encompass creation, preservation, and destruction and this idea
has been embedded in Hindu thought and ritual since the dawn of
civilization. The dances of Kali, the dark and fierce Goddess of
destruction, are very significant. Krishna is one of the most
popular dancing divinities of the Hindus. There is mention in
the mythological texts of Apsaras, the celestial courtesans of
Indra's court who can change their shapes at will. Urvasi,
Meneka, Rambha and Tilottama are the most famous among Apsaras
who are well versed in the art of music and dancing.
The common root of all classical dance forms can be traced to
Bharata's Natyasastra, which is a great, comprehensive work on
the science and technique of Indian drama, dance and music. It
contains deliberations on the different kind of postures, the
mudras, and their meanings, the kind of emotions and their
categorization, besides the kind of attires, the stage, the
ornaments and the audience. According to the Natyashastra,
Brahma, the creator and the first of the Hindu Triad, was asked
to create a past time by the gods. As such, Brahma had created
drama. He then took pathya (words) form the Rigveda, abhinaya
(gesture) from the Yajurveda, geet (music and chant) from
Samaveda and rasa (sentiment and emotional element) from
Atharvaveda to form the fifth Veda, Natyaveda.
More realistically, dance was a part of the art of dramatic
theatre in ancient India, particularly in non-Aryan, primarily
Dravidan societies. There are ample evidences of the popularity
of dance in the Indian society right from the Mesolithic period.
The first and the oldest of evidences to date are the discovery
of the bronze figurine of a dancer from the Indus Valley
Civilization excavations at Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Dancing
figures are also commonly seen in many primitive cave paintings
and sculptures at temples and stupas.
In India, dance and music pervade all aspects of life and bring
colour, joy and gaiety to a number of festivals and ceremonies.
Dance is a form of communication that brings out the innermost
feelings and at the same time depicts the cultural aspects of a
civilization. Indian classical dances are dances of the mind and
soul and are extremely traditional. Indian dance is very
sensuous but the experience of ananda (bliss) it evokes is very
spiritual. Rasa (mood or flavour) as the cause of ananda (bliss)
is considered fundamental essence of beauty and harmony in
Indian aesthetics. Vbhava (cause of emotion), anubhava (effect
of emotion) and sanchari or vyavhichari bhava (subordinate
emotions) constitute the state of rasa.
These in their respective order change the sthayi bhava (primary
emotion) into rasa or bliss. All dance forms are thus structured
around the nine rasas or emotions, hasya (happiness),
krodha
(anger), bhibasta (disgust), bhaya (fear), shoka (sorrow),
viram
(courage), karuna (compassion), adbhuta (wonder) and
shanta
(serenity). All dance forms follow the same hand gestures or
hasta mudras for each of these rasas. The dances differ where
the local genius has adapted it to local demands and needs.
Indian dance is divided into nritta - the rhythmic elements,
nritya - the combination of rhythm with expression and natya -
the dramatic element. Nritya is usually expressed through the
eyes, hands and facial movements. Nritya combined with nritta
makes up the usual dance programmes. Later, as the art evolved,
other distinctions were described, including the male (tandava)
or powerful, strong, firm aspect, and the female (lasya), soft,
flowing and subtle. All this presented as a unified package
aimed at creating rasa or the enjoyment of watching an aesthetic
performance.
There are four strong elements of the classical dance form:
shastra, sculpture, folk tradition and ancient literature. These
traditions were kept alive by a long and distinguished line of
‘Gurus’ who dedicated their lives to perfecting the art form and
handing it down to the next generation. The Gurus kept the dance
traditions alive through the ancient method of teaching, the
Guru-Shishya Parampara. In this tradition, serious and devoted
students lived with their master as in a family, perfecting
their dance training over a number of years. In return, they
looked after and cared for their Guru. They grew vegetables and
fruits on the land, cooked, cleaned and earned an income through
dance recitals.
Most Indian dances take their themes from India's rich mythology
and folk legends. Hindu gods and goddesses like Vishnu and
Lakshmi, Rama and Sita, Krishna and Radha are all depicted in
classical Indian dances. Each dance form also draws inspiration
from stories depicting the life, ethics and beliefs of the
Indian people. For centuries, dances were performed on a regular
basis at temples before the deity as a devotional exercise. This
gave rise to the Devadasis, the dancing girls of the temples who
were held in great respect and reverence in the early days. They
offered their dances and songs as prayer and oblation at the
feet of the temple deity. Since dance is an expression of
devotional life, every dance still begins with a prayer. It is
stated in Abhinaya Darpana of Nandikeshvara that 'those who are
versed in the Science of Dance say that dancing is vulgar in
which the actress does not begin with a prayer'.
After being born and bred in the temples for several centuries,
the Indian classical dance reached the royal courts. Dance
concerts or public performance of dances is a comparatively
recent phenomenon. Nowadays, the Indian classical and modern
dances have becoming immensely popular all over the world and
carved out a niche for themselves.
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