CLASSICAL DANCE OF INDIA
An overview contributed by Parimal Phadke

India is a country known for its diverse cultures, traditions and languages. While 6 major classical dance styles have evolved in India's past 2000 years, most of that development seems to be linked to a 2nd century B.C. treatise. This treatise, Bharata's Natyashastra, is the most important source for establishing the characteristics of Indian drama (natya, meaning drama or theatre; shastra, a generic term referring to any authoritative text). Its date of publication hasn't yet been agreed on, and currently lies between 200 BC and AD 200.

How does a treatise on drama contain invaluable information on dance and music? It was because ancient theatre in India was an amalgamation of all the performing arts. Thus, an actor or an actress also had to be an expert in dance and music. This treatise lays down two aspects of dance, Nritta - pure dance and Nritya - or interpretative dance.

Nritta, or pure dance, is the expression of rhythmic movement primarily through use of the hands and feet often in specific poses. These movements are not designed to convey any particular meaning, emotion, or theme. Their purpose is to create a collage of rhythmic lines, forms and shapes for the sake of their own art - to share the beauty of the abstract form. The draw to the dance lies in the exactness of the interpretation of instruments through the mastery of the footwork and coordination with that of the hand and body.

Nritta helps in improving dancer's stamina and his skill over rhythm. Both Indian music and dance are based on the concept of tala (cyclic rhythm characterized by the number of beats). The simplest manner in which to explain this is by way of time. Time is divided into units (minutes) and then into sub-units (seconds). Similarly tala can be divided into a units and sub-units. There are various types of tala and the total number of units contained usually distinguishes them from one another.

Rhythmic patterns of the hands and feet are interwoven with the notes of the musical instruments. While a dancer executes these movements, he has to keep a precise balance between the two elements, vigorous and the gentle. For example, in most Indian classical dance styles, stamping of the feet is a common feature. A set of stamps should consist of both hard and soft ones. An imbalance in them will result in the movements looking either too harsh or too lifeless.

The second aspect is Nritya, or interpretative dance. This form uses gestures and facial expressions to show the poetic or emotional meaning while combining rhythmic gaits and postures. Here, the systematic gesture language occupies an important place. It is just like the language used by the hearing impaired, with the exception that it is more stylized. The actor in ancient Indian theatre had to be well versed in the form of dance, therefore it is quite natural that he must have a mastery over the gesture language.

One of the most important records of Indian Dance is the 12th century treatise called the Abhinaya Darpana which refers to the mirror of gestures. It lays down single and double-handed gestures used for showing objects, actions, emotions, standing and sitting postures, leaps, jumps and gaits. When it comes to improvised choreography, Nritya occupies an important place. To illustrate, if the dancer is dancing a love song, he is expected to explain the literal meaning of those lyrics and therein lies the real test of imagination i.e. spinning out a story and making the audience see various shades of emotion through his story.

In India, most all classical dances evolved as a temple art. Dance was one of the mediums of worship. The dancer performed facing the idol of the God. Thus the reason Indian classical dance is primarily a solo based art. It is only now that ballets or group dances are in vogue. But still, true classical Indian dance remains as a solo performing art.

The performance has a specific traditional structure which has been passed through the generations. The combination of pure dance (Nritta) and interpretative dance (Nritya) in varying degrees leads us to the creation of different dance items resulting in the final picture of an Indian Classical dance performance.

 
The Fingers
Starting with the fingers, this treatise classifies the movements into seven types - enjoined, separated, crooked, curved, fallen, bent at the roots, or spread out.

After analyzing the movements of the fingers I have come to the conclusion that the movement of a finger can take place from two parts - either the root of the finger or the middle of the finger:
 

Animations by: Amit Chitale

In a similar manner, a finger can have 6 different folding positions from the middle of a finger. In the final position it touches the root of a finger as shown in the illustration to the left.

If we combine these root and middle positions in distinct ways, we can actually create variety of gestures. Here you can see two common gestures used in Bharat Natyam, the classical dance from the South of India.

1. Extends the little finger to 12 o'clock
2. Extend the ring (or 2nd) finger to 10 o'clock
3. Extend the middle finger to 9 o'clock
4. Finally bend the 4th finger in the middle to 6 o'clock

The second gesture shown is mayura (peacock).

1. The first, third and fourth fingers extend straight up facing towards 12 o'clock.
2. The position of the ring finger folds as in the 2nd illustration to meet the thumb.
   
   

The Wrist
But just finger movements do not establish a hand gesture. Two other parts play an essential role in transforming the finger positions into a hand gesture. The next is the wrist. The treatise divides the wrist movements into 5 types.

1. Bent outwards (the palm is exposed)-According to the author this movement is to be employed to indicate a gift, and giving refuge.
   
2. Bent inwards (the palm is unexposed)-The author applies this in pushing away people.
   
3. Inwards and outwards- this is to be used in invoking.
   
4. Circular movement- It is the circular movement of a wrist which we use in skipping. The author assigns this movement in brandishing swords and knives*.
   
5. Straight-The author concludes this series with a straight position to be used while holding a book or receiving a gift.
    

The Arm
And lastly we must consider the movements of the arm. The author gives the following positions of the arm.

1. Above head position - this position is used to show tall objects.
   
2. Downward - The arms pointing downwards.
   
3. Sideward - The hands reaching the side.
   
4. Opening - when the arm proceeds out from the region of the chest with a circular movement.
   
5. Stretched out - The arm is stretched out towards the front.
   
6. To and fro - The arm proceeding from the region of the chest and returning to the chest.
   
7. Circular - when the arm is turned out in all directions is called Circular movement. It is prescribed for brandishing a sword*.
   
8. Cross - crossing the arms so that they touch each other at wrists. It is employed in embrace.
   
9. With wrist - From this we can understand that the author expected us to go through the wrist movement before venturing towards the arm movements.
   
10. Reaching arm - The arm reaching the back e.g. Taking an arrow out of the quiver.
    
11. Inwards - When the arm moves inwards (towards the center).
    
12. Bent Elbow - Till now we had movements where we had not specified the bending of an elbow. The author specifies the bending of the elbow in this particular movement. The author says when the arm is bent till the elbow is pointed, it is termed as the bent elbow movement. It is prescribed in wielding a sword, striking, eating, drinking.
    
13. Slightly bent - The arm is slightly bent as employed in carrying a garland.
    
14. Swinging - It involves swinging movement of the arms.
    
15. Reaching - It is the arm movement where the arm reaches its own from the other side.
    
    
    

At Rest
The author of Sangitaratnakara has also given places for resting the hands. The author defines the meaning of the hand when placed on some part of the body or near some part of the body. He names fourteen places for the hands. The two sides, in front, above, below, head, forehead, ear, shoulders, chest, navel, above the hips, and the two thighs.

Wrapping Up

So we have covered the three tools involved in a hand gesture. The fingers, wrist and the arm. These three tools give us a whole new dimension to a hand gestures. But the author of this 14th century treatise goes further by listing positions of the hands with the palm as the focus.

Sarngadeva gives fifteen positions, but the following are the most identifiable, with the others looking too repetitive for description here. The five I will give you are: palms facing upwards, downwards, sidewards, forwards, facing oneself.

Sarngadeva mostly talked about the positions of fingers, wrist and arm but he also lays down pure actions of the hands. He lays down twenty in number. They are as follows:

Shaking, contact, separation, throwing out, protecting, releasing, accepting, restraining, raising up, drawing inwards, drawing outwards, beating, weighing, cutting, splitting, bursting, snapping, dismissing, beckoning, threatening.

Interestingly, he mentions such mundane things for eating, drinking, receiving a gift, and holding a book while specifying the usage of each movement. The view, which I hold is that he wanted us to realize that all such movements are performed during the daily course of activities. To conclude, the dancer has to make himself aware regarding these movements , create his own vocabulary of actions and movements and assimilate them in his or her own choreography.

- Parimal

Parimal Phadke has trained for 16 years in Indian Classical Dance, specifically in Bharat Natyam. He is currently working toward his Masters in Dance at Centre for Performing Arts, Univ. of Pune. He was recently honored with the national title Singarmani, for excellence in dance. He seeks to rediscover the relevance of ancient classical theories of dance with contemporary and Indian Classical dance.