ata Natyam dancer. Quite simply Bharata Natyam can be described as poetry in motion. Hand gestures and facial expressions narrate mythic, heroic and romantic tales. One dance enacts all the roles, switching from emotion to emotion - joy to anger, , fear, anguish, sorrow and so on. Bharata Natyam is known as the dance of the mind and soul, simply because it uplifts the dancer to a higher level of spiritual consciousness through the trance- like use of geometrical dance postures, sharp movements, and highly subtle mimes. Bharata Natyam is extremely traditional and known for its grace and purity , along with many statuesque poses, made to resemble many of the religious Hindu sculptures. Like the Hindu gods and goddesses the dancers take their positions from bent knees, never standing upright, and use a huge repertoire of hand movements. Bharata Natyam is a solo dance, which involves elaborate use of postures, hand gestures, foot movements, eye movements and head movements. (13 postures of the head, nine of the neck, 36 of the eye, 37 of the hand). The Indian classical dance involves body as well as mind. An embodiment of beauty, charm and gracefulness. Bharata Natyam is sub-divided into three classical forms: Nritta, Nritya, and Abhinaya (Bhagyalakshmy, 223).Bharata Natyam in its pure form, Nritta interprets the language of rhythm and melody through various patterns traced by the body. In this style the patterns traced are either square, triangular or diamond shaped. Essentially, Nritta is a dance without a theme (Bhagyalakshmy, 112). Most people would find this to be the most easiest dance to learn and watch.In the second form, Nritya, the goal is to convey a poetic meaning through the use of gestures and facial expressions combined with rhythmic gaits and postures (Chandra, 11). Basically Nritya is a dance that tells a story by interpreting words recited by a singer. This is a very soul touching experience. It seems as if the singer ...
