PART DOS

Hello from London!

It feels amazing to say that :) It's 1 in the morning here in the Grand Plaza (Notting Hill), and I'm writing whilst jetlag. It's been a crazy filled with the Tube, snow flurries, Epsom, and the craziness of Oxford Street. So before I succumb to jetlag and sleep, here's my quick post.

So Mudras. A Mudra is a hand gesture. In dancer lingo, we also call them Hastas (Hasta in Sankrit is hand). Bharatanatyam and other dance forms use mudras to communicate meanings. in Nritta, mudras hold no meaning (just augment the dance) but in Abhinaya, they combine with expressions to provide meaning. (Refer to old videos) The wifi is very spotty here, so I'll have more next week!

Prithvi

Structure Structure Structure - Pt. Uno

My goodness, I'm leaving tomorrow. It's a crazy race of suitcases and shopping and packing that's turned my room into a hazardous waste zone. I'm writing this post in on a pile of clothes on my bed before I stuff everything into suitcases. Here's my savior as of now for this project:

Laghu Bharatham: Hand Book on Bharatha Natyam. What more could I need? Even better, I got an Abhinaya flow chart out of it. I adore flow charts let me just say, they just simplify everything for you! It helps me put my prior knowledge into words to further both my own understanding, and explain concepts better to my readers. 

So the point of this post is to explain that while Abhinaya might seem free flowing and expressive, it's based on a servers of rigid structures. I mentioned the term Aangika Abhinaya a while back - expression through body and limb movements. This is split into anga (major limbs) and pratyanga (minor limbs - neck, eyes, eyebrows, etc.). To give you an idea of just how structured this gets (according to the Abhinaya Darpana, the most referenced text for Bharatanatyam dancers):

• The nine head movements are shiro bhedha.
• The eight eye movements are netra bhedha.
• The four neck movements are greeva bhedha.

I'm not even going to suggest going into the specifics, for the sake of my sanity and yours. Next time (FROM LONDON OMG) I'll pick up with mudras. Whoa. What are those? Well, you'll just have to read next time! Adieu!

~Prithvi

So you want to emote

Hello hello!

Fitting this blog post in before I'm off to shop for my trip :) Trying to finish everything off and pull out the suitcases before my birthday tomorrow!!! (18 what even.)
Onwards to the educational aspect of this post! Two posts ago, I talked about Abhinaya and the Navarasas. Now I shall be describing the AshtaNayika, or the eight kind of heroines that exist in abhinaya (most significantly in Bharatanatyam). Recap: a Nayika is the word for a heroine in an abhinaya piece. (The word for hero is Nayaka - one letter change in sanskrit.) So here are the eight:

• Vasakasajjika - the dressed up heroine who awaits her lover
• Virahotkanthita - distressed due to the non-arrival of her love
• Svadhinapathika - confident of her love
• Kalahantartha - the quarrelsome heroine who later repents for quarrel
• Khandita - enraged heroine whose husband is unfaithful
• Vipralabhdha - the disappointed heroine who has been deceived by her love
• Proshitabhartruka - the one who's husband has gone away and does not return on time (depicted as mourning)
• Abhisarika - the one who sneaks out (sacrificing modesty) to meet her love

Phew, that was long. A heroine can go through a transition from one of these characters to another. A Vasakasajjika can easily transition to a Khandita. Here is a video (it's quite long but helpful) describing the AshtaNayika - AshtaNayika in Bharatanatyam. That is all for now! Off to go pack :) See you next week!

~Prithvi

A Change in Matters

Hello!

It's been a tiring day...for once I had to wake up before 11 today. The horrors! (7 to be exact) Thankfully, I got some delicious breakfast + good company out of it. So onward to the change in matters mentioned.
For the last few weeks, I've felt like my project has been lacking some kind of focus. Today, I finally figured out how to fix it and modified my proposal! So - I'll still be studying the impact of Hindu mythology on choreography, and be looking at various dance styles. However, my main focus will be Bharatanatyam, and how there are stylistic differences between the various schools in Bharatanatyam. This focus is where my true passion lies, and allows me to focus my resources more.
I've finally linked my proposal to my blog and it's on the right side of the screen! So do check that out, and here's a link for convenience: Senior Research Proposal (ENJOY).

Phew. So with that headache out of the way, it's full speed ahead! I'll continue rambling on about terminology and choreography, desperately hoping for an audience. So that's all for now, adieu!

~Prithvi

To Pick Up....

.....Where we left off!
Wow two blog posts a week didn't seem like a lot, but...well it is. Anyway, so last post I talked about the physical component of  classical Indian dance, or Nritta (Previously, on Just Dance: Indian Edition...). This time we shall be discussing Abhinaya, or the emotive aspect! And it's time to define :)

Abhinaya: Derived from Sanskrit, the word literally means leading the audience towards an emotion.

• Abhi- towards
• naya - leading or guide

Abhinaya is divided into 4 types, as set by the Natyasastra (reminder: the ancient book).

• Angika Abhinaya - how a sentiment is expressed through the movement of the limbs, body, and face. Angika comes from the Sanskrit Anga, which means limbs.
• Vachika Abhinaya - how emotion is conveyed through speech. As far as dance goes, this relates more to the tonal qualities of the supporting music.
• Aharya Abhinaya - conveying tones and meanings through the costumes and makeup
• Sattvika Abhinaya - the dancer's own connection and personal experiences that are meant to be communicated to the audience (Ie. through tears, goosebumps, etc.)

Another important part of abhinaya is Navarasa, or Nine emotional states or themes (nava-nine, rasa - essence).
Sringaram (love), Hasyam (laughter), Raudram (Fury), Adbhutam (Astonishment, Wonder), Bhayanakam (Fear), Karunyam (Compassion), Bibhatsam (Disgust), Viram (Bravery, Heroism), Shantam (Peace)

Here's an example of pure Abhinaya in Bharatanatyam : Abhinaya in Bharatanatyam
In this piece, the heroine (known as the Nayika in Bharatanatyam) is waiting for her lover (boyfriend...thats the gist) and reminiscing about their times together. She asks her pet parrot to fly away with a message for him. This brings us to a topic known as the AshtaNayika, or 8 kinds of heroines. But for that, you shall have to tune in next time! Farewell!

~Prithvi

Background Research You Say?

Hello hello!

So it would seem I'm a free, jobless, teenager (who gets mistaken for a dropout on the regular). It just feels like every day is a Saturday, doesn't it? And it shall remain so until I leave on February 20th to the motherland. Before I foray into the project related contents of my post (it shall come, do not fret Mrs. McConaghy!), Happy National Pancake Day to one and all! I enjoyed a free short stack with my fellow  seniors, which forced me to leave the house (thank you IHOP + wonderful company!).

Onwards to the related topics. Since I'm a bit over two weeks away from jetting off, I am focusing on my background research and interview questions. This post will focus on my preliminary research.
There's this ancient book called the Natyasastra (Sanskrit for treatise on dance; natya = dance). It was written somewhere around 200 BC, and basically laid out all the rules for classical Indian dance - a guidebook for creation if you may. It's a literal guide to the dramatic arts, and lays out everything from body positions to makeup/costume to musical accompaniment. So basically, all the dance forms have similar core values and ties to spirituality. However, their styles and choreography have evolved completely differently.

So crash course: The classical Indian dance forms are unique in that they contain not only a physical dance facet, but also a theatrical (mime, acting, emoting) side. Vocabulary time!

Nritta: Pure dance composed of choreographed movements, which does not convey any underlying meaning. This is the basis of a student's tutelage, such as learning the various positions in ballet. This video is a demonstration of Nritta in Bharatanatyam (South Indian classical) - Nritta in Bharatanatyam.

Nritta is broken down into teaching blocks when one first learns a dance form. The name for these blocks is different in each dance style - Adavus in Bharatanatyam, Atavus in Mohiniattam, fluid motions in Manipuri, etc. The organization varies with the dance style.

I think I've overloaded my meager reading audience with enough information. That was a basic crash course and demo in Nritta. Tune in next time for some hard core emotion known as Abhinaya folks!
I am off to scavenge for food :)

~Prithvi