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Rukmini
Devi was born on Feb 29, 1904. She established Kalakshetra meaning "A holy
place for the arts" in 1936. She was the first dancer to dance to
proper stage lighting and background in Bharathanatyam. |
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Rukmini
Devi was the first to introduce the practice of making the orchestra sit
by the side of the stage during a performance. Before this, the orchestra
was seated behind the artiste and faced the audience. Rukmini Devi considered
this a distraction and made the orchestra sit by the side of the stage
which has become the current practice. |
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Rukmini
Devi was the first Bharatanatyam artiste to dance to the music of the Trinities. |
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Rukmini
Devi was the first artiste to dance in Thisra Nadai to a Thillana of a
Chathurasra Nadai. |
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Rukmini
Devi learnt ballet from Cleo Nordi and her inspiration for ballet dancing
was Anna Pavalova. |
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Apart
from being called Dasiattam and Thanjavur Natyam, Sadir was the original
name for BHARATANATYAM. It was the preserve of the devadasis. Men of the
Isai Vellalar community to which the devadasis belonged served as teachers,
nattuvanars and musicians. These Nattuvanars trained devadasi women
to perform Sadir at temples and rituals, royal courts and for family functions
of the then rich and famous. The 4 brothers Ponnayya, Chinnayya, Vadivelu
and Sivanandam known popularly as the Thanjavur Quartette (1798-1832) set
the pattern and syllabus and gave a chiselled structure to Sadir dance.
In the third quarter of the 19th century, there was an anti-nautch movement
coupled with the economic deterioration of the devadasis. E Krishna
Iyer learnt Bharatanatyam and fought to save Sadir from extinction.The
name Bharatanatyam was first coined by him in the mid 1930's. |
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KATHAKALI
requires high physical and mental fitness, rigorous training and tough
physical exercises before and after rigorous massages done with the foot.
This is an essential aspect of kathakali training for flexibility
of the body which is essential for a Kathakali actor in order to perform
hero roles that demand physical perfection. This rigorous training spanned
8 to 10 years. Such training and massages were unsuitable for the female
body. So, the dance-drama tradition of Kathakali was an art form of the
males and all the maestros have been men since its origin. Of late
women have entered the field and undergo limited training to meet their
immediate performance requirements. 2 well known Kathakali female artistes
were Karthiyani who lived circa 1700 AD and Vanchiyur Karthiyani Amma who
was born around 1880. |
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From
the 4th century B C, references are found to the practises
of staging
plays in natyashalas of temples. |
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Ample
evidences of technical aspects described in the Natya Shastra can be seen
in the sculpture at the Brihadeeswara temple at Thanjavur, Nataraja temple
at Chidambaram, Sarangapani temple at Kumbakonam and Thiruvannamalai temple. |
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Panini,
the celebrated grammarian of the 6th century B C mentions 2 writers on
dance, Silalin and Krusasva, both prior to Bharata. But their works
are not available. Natya Shastra written between 2nd century B C and 2nd
century A D is the earliest available treatise on dramaturgy. |
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