Bharatnatyam

Bharatnatyam is a classical form of dance which originated in South India . In bharatnatyam, in the initial few years basic steps called ADAVAS are taught . Then with the combination of these adavas many items are made like Alarippu, Jathiswaram, Padams,Varnams,swarajathi,Thillana etc. and a lot more of them. Most of the songs in this form of dance are spiritual in nature and the stories of all the various gods are expressed through performing them through adavas and gestures.One of the most important part of Bharatnatyam dance is Hastas or Mudras which are hand gestures that are used to express feelings . The movement of the eyes and neck is very important to express certain parts of the story in the dance.
Some of the items have more of adavas (steps) called jathis like thillana, jathiswaram,swarajathis etc . Some of the items have more of gestures and facial expressions and eye movements and have a story that has to be conveyed through the dance . These include Krishna nee be gane baaro, Kaalai tuki aadum, Padams,shankari shankuru etc. and many more. There are some items which are formed by a combination of adavas called jathis and sahityam through which the storyline of the song is expressed with the help of gestures and hand movements like varnams, kautwams. Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Sanskrit are traditionally used languages in Bharatanatyam.
A bharatnatyam programme always starts with a ganapati kautwam then allaripu, jathiswaram, varnam then there are some light dances like padams shabdams. The dance performance is always accompanied by carnatic(classical music).The accompaniments include a singer,a violin,a mridangam,flute,nagaswaram,and veena (stringed instrument traditionally associated with Saraswati the Hindu goddess of the arts and learning). The last item of the programme is the thillana which is a very brisk and tiring dance and finally the mangalam which symbolises the thanksgiving to God.
Arangetram - This is a stage performance given by a bharatnatyam dancer after she has learnt the dance for quite some years and is ready to perform on stage . It is very important for a dance student and gives her a lot of honour and she is blessed and gets an opportunity to portray her talent to the world.
Costumes are a very integral part that have to be looked upon in a dance perfornmance. The costumes are very symbolic and it is generally a saree but tied in a different way so that the dancer has the flexibility to perform all the movements. They also symbolise our tradition and add beauty to the performer. Thus bharatnatyam is a very ancient form of dance and has been prevailing till today. Even today it has the same respect and popularity from the time of the birth of the dance form and is also taken up as a profession by many people who have kept the dance alive till today and will do it forever.