Bharatanatyam Performed: A Typical Recital

Abstract

Originally written as a chapter in a Master's thesis in the Anthropology of Human Movement, “A Structural Analysis of Meaning in Movement; The Hand Gestures of Indian Classical Dance” (CitationNew York University, 1983), this article conducts Rajika Puri's readers through a Bharatanatyam performance, providing relevant facts about the history of the form, its structure (musical and otherwise), and above all its profound depth of meaning. She discusses a Bharatanatyam dancer's costume, make-up, use of music, and the repertoire of a typical performance lasting two-and-a-half hours. Puri introduces the complexities of abhinaya (roughly “mime”) and hasta mudras (stylized hand gestures), revealing how it is that Indian dancers combine dancing and acting () with so-called pure movement () in every performance. She tells us that both abhinaya and are included in , the word that is closest to the idea of “dance” in India. And, is the main vehicle of (theater). In an elegant exegesis of the theory of rāsa (“taste” or “flavor”) Puri introduces us to the metaphysical concepts that permeate Indian classical dance forms. She concludes by saying that, “Wherever they may be found in the world, the great traditions of dancing deliberately and consciously convey meaning. They are not simply mindless entertainments.”

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