As shared elements of Indian performances, the hands,
feet, and face are the main communicative organs in relating the story to the
spectators. The gestures of the palm and fingers, the footwork, and the facial
expressions are all standardized and must therefore be studied and practiced.
The voice serves as accompaniment music along with live instruments.
Bharatanatyam
The
concepts of Nritta, Nritya, and Natya are the basic aspects of the dance
at a functional level. Nritta or pure
dance, is the graceful display of rhythm through abstract dance movements that
do not make use of a theme or a feeling. Nritya,
which may also be understood as interpretative dance, is when the dancer adds
meaning, illustrates emotions, and relays a theme with the combination of
various bodily movements such as facial expressions, hand gestures, and leg
actions. Finally, to act out a narrative or to express meanings, Natya, includes the spoken dialogue and
mime, which are for the dramatic aspect of a performance.
Bharatanatyam may
involve the mimetic and narrative aspects of natya but spoken lines are not included in it. These distinct
features of the dance aside from setting apart Bharatanatyam as a performance, compose the structure of the dance.
Although, the spectators are not expected to be, nor are they actually aware of
these key terms. Generally speaking, Bharatanatyam
has nritya as a dominant aspect.
However, the proportion among these three concepts vary across performances.
The music
is helpful in distinguishing which aspect of Bharatanatyam is being used by the dancer. There are no lyrics in
pure nritta music. Instead, called-out
are the names of rhythmic beats, or sung are the names of the musical notes.
When nritya and natya components are present in an interpretative dance, meaningful
lyrics are sung with the intended message of the lyrics being enacted in the
dance.
The
facial expression of the dancer is another way of differentiating nritta from nritya. Nritya dancers
express a variety of emotions through the different parts of the face. This is
not the case for nritta as the
dancers must keep a face with a stable emotion even with a number of eye
movements employed and even though they should give a smile. Some items in the Bharatanatyam are really abstract with
the others being interpretative, but most of them include, in alternating
parts, the aspects, nritta and nritya.
Noted for the structure of the body in the dance:
1.
The upper torso is fixed.
2.
The knees are extended out the body with the
bending of legs.
3.
The footwork is visually arresting.
4.
There is a plethora of gestures or signs.
The non-verbal messages are based on gestures of hands,
eyes, and face muscles.
Kathakali
Unlike
other classical dances which developed in places of worship, the Kathakali developed in courts and
theaters of Hindu regions. Another distinction from other Indian performances
is that the Kathakali employs
colorful and striking make-up that reveals the character types, intricate
facemasks that accentuate the inner nature of the characters, and a unique set
of costumes that are worn by the performers. Another distinguishing feature is
clearly seen in the movements which show a heritage of martial arts and
traditions of other physically demanding activities that are widespread in
Kerala.