Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

D AN C E

dance form of Kerala of the Shilppadikaram era and developed into the present style between the 14th and 17th century A.D. Mohiniattam having been in- fluenced by Bharatanatyam em- ploys the hastas that are listed in Abhinaya Darpana which are fol- lowed very largely in Bhara- tanatyam. They are also listed in the Hastalakshana Deepiaka, fol- lowed in Kathakali and other Ker- ala dances. The repertoire of Mohiniat- tam resembles that of Bhara- tanatyam. The items are

Panigrahi (L), Deba Prasad Das, Sonal Mansingh. Abhinaya Chandrika written in -the 17th C provides in general a base for dance techniques and terminology of Odissi dance. As mentioned before the Natya Sastra and Abhinaya Darpana have also been sources of references to the Odissi gurus in constructing the repertoire. They have also been inspired by the dance sculpture of the various temples in the region in reconstructing some of the postures, stances etc. The Konark temple has been a source of visual stimulation for the exponents. It is the most lyrical style of dance in India. The Odissi technique is based on chowka which is considered as a symbolic representation of the idol of Lord Jagannath. Some of the other postures used in this style are Abhanga, Tribhanga etc. The padabhedas or positions of the feet are interesting like Sama, Kumbha, Dhanu, Maha, Eka, Lolita, Nupura, Suchi, Ashrita, Trasya and Rekha. The Odissi dancer decorates her technique with bells — units of movement of varying kinds. The chalis or gaits are manners of walking on the stage. Bhumis are patterns of movement on the stage. The brahmaris are turns or circular movements around a central axis. Nritya or interpretative dance makes use of hastas both to in- terpret the songs and in the decoration of pure dance sequences. As each style of dance follows its own vernacular text, the Odissi dancer follows Abhinaya Chandrika of Maheswar Mohapatra. Abhinaya in Odissi is evocative and classical in its stylisation. It is constantly supported by postures and movements. The reper- toire of Odissi dance begins with the mangalachran item as an of- fering made at the start of the programme followed by Rangamanch pravesh (entry on to the stage), Rangabhumipranam (salutation to the stage) and trikhandi pranam (salutations to the god, guru and audience) and the next sequences are Batu and Pallavi. The batu is an item of pure dance that is derived from the influence of the Tantric worship of Batukeshwar Bhairav, an aspect of Lord Shiva. The Pallavi is an elaboration of both dance and music. Kshtapa- dis or verses from Gita Govinda are interpreted after this. Moksha is the concluding item in the programme. The vocal support is provided by a singer accompanying the Odissi dancer. He is sup- ported by musicians. Until then it was considered as an art form born out of the wedlock of Bharatanatyam and Kathakali along with elements of secular folk dances of the womenfolk of Kerala incorporated in it. Mohiniattam is deemed to have achieved its present classical form and repertoire during the reign of Maharaja Swati Tirunal, the famous ruler of Kerala. During his reign, the advent of Vadivelu, one of the Tanjore quartet, the architect responsible for the present day Bharatanatyam repertoire, seems to have influenced Swati Tirunal who wanted a female counterpart of Kathakali. Mohiniattam is not an entirely new art. It was in vogue in the beginning of the’ 17th century. It is between 300 to 600 years old. ‘All the dance forms of India are the end products of a long series of a process of improvement, change and evolution in keeping with the changing social structure.’ Thus Mohiniattam had its roots in the MOHINIATTAM : Mohiniattam, "the dance of the enchant- ress”, has gained the status of a classical dance in recent years.

Cholkettu, Swarajti, Padam, Javali, Tillana. Thus with the advent of the brothers from the famous Tanjore quartet, Chinniah, Ponniah, Vadivelu and Shivanandam, in the court of Maharaja Swati Tirunal, this dance form was further popularised. The three surviving dancers of this dance form are Kalputatte — Kunjukuttiamma; Tottacheri Chinnamumamma and Kalyani- kuttiamma Krishnan Nair. Kunjukuttiamma is the oldest living exponent of traditional Mohiniattam. Chinnamumamma became popular after her associa- tion with the Kerala Kalamandalam whereas Kalyanikuttiamma enjoys the rare distinction of being the only active performer of Mohiniattam from the traditional group. Shanta Rao, Satyabhama, Padmanabhan, Kanak Rele and Bharati Shivaji are some of the contemporary exponents. A type of dance drama which was formerly in vogue in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Now it is found only in South Kanara districts of Karnataka and some parts of Mysore. As it is performed in the open air, this art form is often referred to as Bay- alata. The term Yakshagana is derived from the style of music in which the themes are usually taken from the Kannada rendering of the epics and puranas. Some well-known exponents are Kere- mane Shivaram Hegde, Veeerabhadra Naik, Rama Ganiga, Ma- OTHER FORMS Traditional theatre (Yakshagana)

habal Hegde, Shambhu Hegde etc. of the Badaga Tittu, Kut- tiappu, Malinga of the Tenka Tittu. Dr. Shivaram Karanth has contributed considerably to the propagation of the art. There are two distinct styles of Yakshagana, Tenkatittu and Badagatittu meaning the north and south styles respectively. The compositions of Dev- idasa of Udupi, Nagappaya of Dwajapur and Subba of Ajapur belonging to the 17th century, and of Rama of Karur, Rama