Dance and V -1
Lavs wanted to know about V’s dance classes. So here we go.
Ladies and gentlemen, the next post is “dance and V” presented by V, set to her own ragam and thalam.
Ten years later, I wanted to learn again and now it was not for being on stage or for fun but it was for knowing the technique and how the dance evolved. This is the older and wiser chapter in my Bharatnatyam learning book. For those of you, who have not lived in a
This is the scene in virtually any city in US and definitely in
Well I started learning again in late 2005, little more than a year ago. And today I took a minute to ponder why I have really not written about my dance classes and the answer is not just one. There were number of reasons and here they are. Firstly, I feel quite inadequate to write about my experiences in the class. What I learn is not just movement of feet and hands but something more sublime and more spiritual and something I really cannot explain and I am not even going to try doing it. And then there are times when my whole body feels like it is on fire, exhausting, tiring and makes me question why on earth do I go through this ritual of self-torture? And the worst is the time when I feel positively ancient and old-maidish when I dance with the 15-16 year olds who are quick, nimble and graceful. And there you go I said it! With all my secrets out let me go ahead.
My typical dance classes range anywhere from one hour to three hours. I usually meet with a bunch of other gals for classes on Sundays. We are the so-called senior class, mostly because of our age and our previous exposure to Bharatnatyam in some form or the other in some corner of the world. We warm up, get our old joints cracking and start with the basics. We always spend around an hour doing simple but basic adavus and believe me till date I get a big list of corrections for whatever adavu I do! It is during this time, I learn a lot about the technique, the way the same step is done in other dance forms like Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi etc. I also learn when and how to fit in the step I do into a complex set of steps called jathi.
There is a big connection between classical carnatic music and dance and unfortunately I cannot differentiate one raga from the other. Well I do listen to lot of songs but without having formally studied music, my sense of raga, thala and laya are totally off. To choreograph a jathi in Bharatnatyam, above all one should be able add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers with ease! Dance and Music is all mathematics. How do you fit in 3 steps into a count of 8 in different speeds? It is mathematics, a sense of dance and music is all you need. It is fascinating and involves a lot of study and I am no expert. I barely know the basics. It is something I learn and want to learn more.
Bharatnatyam itself is a lot of math especially the nritta – the leg movements. But Bharatnatyam also involves a lot of geometry – angles, line and arcs. If you look at the picture of a good Bharatnatyam dancer, you’ll be able to notice the symmetry, hands and legs in perfect sharp angles. Every moment of a Bharatnatyam dancer is also meant to be crisp, precise and geometrical. This is not true about other Indian dance forms and they ofcourse have their own specialties. This is what I am working towards improving, my posture, crispness and sharpness of movement. And as always this is a learning process.
This post is getting quite long and there is so much more I can talk about dance. I hate leaving it abruptly but I will now wrap this up and do a part 2 soon. And thanks to Lavs for setting me think and write about what I feel about dance.
4 Comments:
Lately.. I got introduced to Classical music thru SPICMACAY.. and the math aspect of it.. its very interesting...have not yet deciphered the basics!! let me know if you know of any good teachers in San Antonio :)
Loved your post....Though I do not remember anything in bharatnatyam from what i learnt earlier, i have always been attracted to this art...because of my early association.
Fascinating ! Absolutely fascinating. I never saw dance as maths. Perhaps becuase math eluded my grasp ( dance kept me in awe )
Maybe there is a connection that i see, after reading your post, about why perhaps am not able to dance in synchrony like many others.
This was a lovely post. And i got to understand the Houston side of Bharathnatyam ! :)
I was just browsing to see what happened to my dance teacher and came across this post....very impressive...i learned under Shanti Rammohan and did arengetram...she is a wonderful teacher....
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