margam

Bharatanatyam Margam

Alarippu

The word ‘Alarippu’ means ‘blooming’ (root ‘alaru’ may be found in telugu, tamil and other Dravidian languages). Alarippu is short invocatory Nritta item. It’s meaning is paying obeisance or salutation to God, guru and audience. It opens performance and also opens dancer’s body – limbs are warmed up by simple movements, mind is focused by precise rhythm and emotions are activated by harmony and beauty of traditional choreography and inner joy of dance, so dear to each dancer.

Alarippu can be performed in different thalas and jatis, traditional alarrippu-s are rupaka, misra chapu and chaturasra eka thalam alarippu.

S Sharada Teacher explained Alarippu as follows:

'The Alarippu movements begin with the eyes and neck and move progressively downwards. This is essencially a dance dedicating each part of the body before commencing the actual program. Alarippu conveys happyness. 'Nanadanti anena devata - iti naandi.' That which makes the deva-s happy is naandi. Hence the Alarippu is like the naandi sloka.Hence the Alarippu is like the naandi sloka. Since this is dedicatory dance, it has to be simple, setting the stage for the more complicated dance to follow.'

Jathiswaram

This is pure Nritta item set to tune (ragam) in particular rhythm (thalam). Jathiswasram includes Jathi (sollukattu), Pallavi, Anupallavi and one or more Charanas. There is no any sahityam passages present her, the whole composition is sung by swaras.

The meaning of Nritta, pure dance, is using the God given body and limbs we create as many forms of beauty as possible through flow of poses and movements connected together by rhythm and music. Beauty and inner joy of dance is the only meaning of Nritta. It doesn’t have any particular mood or sentiment. It produces aesthetic pleasure.

In answer to question asked by the sages, Bharata explained: “The dance is occasioned by no specific needs. It has come into use because it creates beauty.”

As a dance composition, jathiswaram includes jathi and several korvais set to Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanas. Some korvais are intervened by Mai adavu (set of adavus characterized by elaborate body movement).

Famous Jatiswarams are composed in ragas Kalyani, Chakravakam, Arabi, Vasanta, Saveri, Kamas.

Shabdam

This is a song in praise of deity The other name of this musical composition is ‘Yasho geetam’ (song in praise). In olden days all Shabdams were composed in Kamboji ragam. Nowadays shabdams are sung in raga malika, but the first ragam of the sequence should be Kamboji. Majority of shabdams are set to Misra Chapu thalam.

Shabdam starts with short jathi. Each line of sahityam is repeated several times. Dancer should explain it through pada artha (word by word) and vachika artha (sanchari) abhinaya. Each line is concluded by short jathi when the dancer executes set of simple adavus.

Varnam

'In the Varnam, teermanam-s should be in proportion to the rest of the piece. Disproportionately lenghy teermenam-s spoil the continuity of the work. So do unnecessary long Sanchari-s. When Sanchari go beyond three or four avarta-s (rhythmical cycles), the dance turns into a drama or mono-acting. At one recital, I counted as many as 60 repetitions of a line, at which point I gave up counting. This kind of a thing distorts the form of the varnam. IT is possible to communicate what is necessary in the shortest span of time.'

'The kalapramanam (tempo) for a varnam should be moderate. This enhances the beauty of the presentation. In the older forms, tattu mettu was never done for the Pallavi and Anupallavi. Tattu mettu was done for the Chittaswara sahitya. The continuity of teermanam-s should also not be broken. Adavu-s should be in proportion to the teermanam-s.'

The stage space should be correctly used. Just as the delineation of adavu is important, so also are the lines created when covering the stage. A dancer should not wander on the stage; there are certain prescribed ways of moving which should be respected.'

'For the Sanchari-s in the varnam, the various subtle meanings of the song should be used within the context. This will make the presentation attractive.'

Padam

Padam may be described as musical monologue. To understand meaning of Padam it is very essential to comprehend relationship between the heroine (Nayaki) and the hero (Nayaka).
In Padam human soul is represented by female lover (Jeevatma) yearning for union with supreme being (Paramatma). This type of relationship is called ‘Sringara-bhakti’ (devotion through love of the highest, dignified kind).

Padams give the widest scope for Abhinaya, expression of sentiments, emotions, feelings, moods including all the shades possible.
Before performing a padam, the one should visualize the hero and heroine, the previous history of their relationships, the current situation, the mood and intentions of the heroine (or hero, depends upon from whose name the padam is sung) and possible development of the situation between the lovers.

Padams are suggestive, they admit dual meaning – direct and indirect aspects. Padams are centered round theme of love, which is basic and underlying mood of Padam. Over this mood different emotions may be expressed, according to situation and character of the heroine and hero, but they should not break the main stream of tender affectionate feeling of love flowing underneath. Anger is often pretended, suffering is mingled with hope and indignation is softened by hidden affection.

'Care should be taken when selecting the theme for a padam which is a slow item and contains a lot of deep rasa bhava. The rasa is nearly always Sringara. An idea already presented in a sanchari should not be repeated. The best charana-s should be selected. The mood of the nayika should be correctly ascertained and portrayed.'

Padam includes Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanas. For dance not all charanas may be selected, just one or two the most beautiful lines are enough. Padams are set to Rakti ragas such as Ananda Bhairavi, Shankarabaranam, Todi. Padams are sung in slow tempo.

Padams are mostly composed in Telugu and Tamil, but there are also Sanskrit, Kannada and Malayalam padams.

The famous composers of Padams are Kshetrayya, Sarangapani, Annamaya, Melattur Venkatarama Sastri, Kasturi Rajgaya, Swathi Tirunal, Iraiman Tambi.

Keertanam

Keertanas deal with glories of the Gods. It includes Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charana-s. Keertanas are set to lighter ragas. It is usually sung in Madhyama kalam (medium tempo). Sahityam narrates prayers and stories from Puranas, thus basic bhava of keertanam is Bhakti.

As a dance composition, Keertanam is abhinaya item, where lines of sahityam are intervened with jathis and swaras during which the dancer executes different korvais (sets of adavus).

'Keertanas are taken from other works should be authentically presented. There is a common misconception that the keertana 'Yaro ivar yaro' is Sita singing about Rama, while in reality it is Rama singing about Sita*. The kalapramanam should be moderate.

*This wonderful keertanam is sung in Bhairavi ragam, very deep, touching and rich of moods raga. In this keertanam Rama comes to garden along with Lakshmana and encounters Sita first time. He is stunned and taken by overwhelming feeling of attraction and admiration towards her. He asks 'Yaro ivar yaro? Enna pero narien?' - 'Who is she? What is her name?'

'The keertana is a form of single-minded devotional music. The Ramanataka keertanas or Nandanar keertanas and others of different authors are therefore steeped in bhakti and evoke devotional mood with little or no distraction or conflict. Hence the delineation of different moods as in Sringara rasa is not possible. So the expansion of ideas in those songs is only by elaborating on the episodes and stories found in the puranas about the God in whose praise the keertanas are composed.'

Javali

In contrast to Padams (songs of dignified love), Javali-s are songs reflecting very casual aspects of love, in light and playful manner. They emphasize amorous (and even erotic) nature of relationships between the lovers.

Javalis are set to lighter ragas. It is usually sung in Madhyama kalam (medium tempo) or faster. Language of sahityam is very simple, even colloquial. It is also suggestive but in playful sense, without deep philosophical insinuations.

Daru

This composition belongs to the sphere of applied music. It figures in dance dramas. It is the story told in form of a song. In Daru the principal character of dance drama is praised and his deeds are described. Daru is sung in Madhyama kala (medium tempo).

Thillana

Main feature if Thillana is brick and attractive music. Thillanas are sung in the end of either music or dance performance.

Thillana includes Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam. Is starts from eye movements, followed by several Mai Adavus (featuring elaborate body movements) set to Pallavi. After Mai adavu several korvais (sets of adavus) are performed set to Pallavi and Anupallavi.

Usi adavu is another feature of Thillana, when dancer covers the stage by quick and fast sequence of movements. Thillana is Nritta item, but there is always one-two line slokam in the end when dancer performs abhinaya (Addressing the deity last time before to conclude the program).

Sloka

Sometimes a recital concludes with a sloka (prayer). The sanchari-s in a sloka should be brief. This is an item without tala and provides felief after the earlier items. It also gives the musicians a chance to use their creativity.