Re: warm up procedure among dancers?

Posted by Sangeetha on January 30, 2007 at 20:35:55:

 In Reply to: warm up procedure among dancers? posted by anbarasi on January 30, 2007 at 11:47:47:

 : Hi,
I am Sangeetha from Bandung, Indonesia. I have learnt the Art from Smt. Chitra visweswaran, Guru Priyadarshini( Chitra's senior disciple) and Mrs. Indra Rajan. I have been practising Bharathanatyam for around 25 years now.
While with Mrs. Indra Rajan, no warm up was taught.But I recall it wasn't as demanding and rigourous as with the classes in the CV style.Probably it was my younger age that made it seem so, or genuinely a case of a less rigorous style of dancing, with minimal movements of the waist and the neck and less leaps as opposed to the style of Mrs. CV.The jathis were also shorter and the speed a little slower.
But Mrs. CV taught us a few flex exercises that included a few flex exercises. for eg
1. To keep feet apart and touch the knees , ankles and toes ( from the sides)
2. Sit in Muzhumandi and bounce
3. Stretching the hands at the shoulder level and trying to raise the legs to the level etc.

Later during my workshops I learnt other exercises based on yoga like trikonasana, trikonasana twist etc. The surya namasakar itself is a good routine to start with it was said.

Mrs. Sudharani Raghupathy says the following in her column in Kutcheribuzz
"A good warm up is very essential before a Bharatanatyam recital. Stretch exercises help. The most common and easy exercise is touching the toes sideways from a standing position ( with legs stretched apart) and by bending downwards in the front (with feet together). This provides a good stretch for the arms and legs. Full sit, 'Muzhumandi' and getting up. Doing the 'Namaste' with your hands (joining the palms) behind the back."

Its hard to start dancing be it a class or a recital on an instant, with musles being stiff and uncooperative. Warm up exercises help in making the body more prepared to the rigours required. The alarippu in itself with its systematic movements of the head,neck, arms, waist and legs is supposed to be a warm up in a concert. And most Intermediate and advanced level classes begin with the alarippu too(even if the exercise regimen is not rigidly followed)!

I have spondilitis and a pain in the lower back , not so serious though and am curious to know if it is a feature in Bharathanatyam dancers.
Good luck in your research!!

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