Tales of Travels

Hola!

Yes, I am indeed doing some major blogging catch up. But between travel, catching a nasty stomach bug, and sending Natasha back off (loneliness...), it's been a bit crazy. As for our travels themselves, they were glorious! The rich history, the beautiful architecture (meh the blazing hot weather in India's hottest state),
 and the regional arts were fantastic. This post features a bit random and tangential facet to my research. When we were in Agra, obviously we went and saw the Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, etc. Cue brief picture interlude.



Gorgeous aren't they? So whilst touristing it up at the Taj, we stumbled upon a dance drama called Mohabbat the Taj. This dance was a series of scenes depicting the saga of love - the true and immortal love of Shajahan for Mumtaj Mahal- his beautiful wife; the lavish lifestyle of mughal era; epic hardship of the artisans for 22 years that created the most precious specimen of craftsmanship. As far as the dance goes, this drama had a definite Bollywood theme (like, it smacked you in the face). But I enjoyed picking out the pieces of Kathak dance implemented. And the ending piece paid a tribute to thre various dance forms of India (oh look...it's my project). So this dance was special in that it showed the wide
spread influence of classical dance, especially in the prevalent culture of Bollywood today. Here's an excerpt from the performance:

Notice the frequent spins - this is an integral part of Kathak dance. However, it's integrated with a cinematic flair that's undeniably Bollywood. 

So that's all for now! More traveling tomorrow...at 4:30 in the morning. Adieu!

~Prithvi

Still in INDIA

Hello! So we've been in Bangalore for three days now. Leaving on some epic travels tomorrow! Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, and Bombay/Mumbai. Come at me world. We've been pigging out like no other since we got here, and the moments not eating food are spent either shopping, researching, or drinking large amounts of tea. So in my last post, I talked about how I would post a second subpar picture to show one of the Ashtanayika. (Props for the pseudo-artistic lens flare and lighting? Thanks Natasha!) Here we go -

This is the classic pose of a Vasakasajjika (The dressed up heroine who awaits her lover). Clearly, I'm failing a bit on that dressed up front. But the vasakasajjika usually is looking over her shoulder yearningly, posing in wait. This pose combines a feminine stance with abhinaya (expression) to convey the heroine's situation. 

So currently that is all. A delicious luncheon awaits me :) I shall excuse myself for that very valid reason! Adieu!

~Prithvi

Hello Homeland!

I'm in India guys! It's so exciting (and crazy hot) :) All I do is stuff my face all day long and shop with Natasha. And read my books obviously. So to put the stuff I've been talking about into a little context, I tortured both Natasha and myself (mainly her) to have a mini photoshoot. So here is one example of mudra usage in a pose. (Side note: This was done on the balcony of the house whilst we were racing against the setting sun. It is very rough.)

So here, one hand is holding the alapadmam murdra, and the other is depicting bangles being put on the hand. Together, they create decorative pose that is also showing a motion. This is only one of hundreds of uses of the alapadmam mudra, which is used in both nritta and abhinaya. So next post, I will use another subpar picture to show one of the Ashtanayika. Off to explore some temple architecture!

~Prithvi

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