Nritta Nrtitta is the pure technical dance that is based on music alone and does not hold any meaning. It is sequences of dance, movements or gestures that are not meant to convey any message. They can be described as a series of poses conntected by a cerain pattern of movement. Nritta is meant to add beauty and elegance to Bharatnatyam. Nritta adds beauty for the audience to see and attracts viewers who have no background of indian art. Nritta is the beginning of training in Bharatnatyam, which consists of a certain sequence of systematized steps that are called aduvus. Adavus, the building blocks of the pure dance are a basic component of Nritta. Aduvus are formed through the posture, leg movements, and hand movements of the dancer. A rhythmic sequence of aduvus is called a jati. A combination of many aduvus forms a korvai and a series of koravais forms a theermanam. All these combinations of movements finally become a bharatnatyam dance item. Adavus Natya Natya can be described as explanatory dance that expresses emotions. The lyrics of the song are conveyed through hasta mudras (hand gestures) and primarily abhinaya (facial expressions). The dancer presents the story of the song through her movements, gestures, poses, and expressions. The main goal of Natya is to impersonate the character that the dancer is depicting for that dance item. The dancer’s internal emotions (bhaava) should be performed in a way that should be felt by the audience. This is the most advance aspect of Indian dance that requires long training, knowledge of Indian mythological and devotional background and lots of experience in order to capture the attention of the audience. Abhinaya Nritya Nritya is the combination of Natya and Nritta. It is an interpretive dance that involves emotions, expressions, and description. It is not mere movement; it has the additional aspect of dance that combines gestures and poses using hands and fingers (hastamudras) and the body itself with facial expressions (abhinaya). |