Aesthetics in Dance

Aesthetics in Dance

Sripriya Vijay, a disciple from the Dhananjayans’ school of Bharatha Natyam gave a presentation on “Music in Dance’ on September 30, 2007 at the Museum of History in Raleigh touching on the nuances of Carnatic music playing an integral role in Bharatha Natyam. She is a dance teacher in the RTP area following the “MArgam format” propounded by the Tanjore Quartet of yore. She traced the origin and history of Carnatic music and its prominent role in Bharatha Natyam. Her description of music being the soul and dance being the body was very fitting. She described the various terms used in Carnatic music in explicit detail.

She is passionate about the art and it shows in her dedication to the details. She described the composition and classification of various rAgams (scales consisting of various notes or swarAs in some specific order) that constitute the 72 mELakarthA rAgams and the variety of permutation/combination of the swarAs to generate an infinite number of rAgams. The various rAgams can also be described as major, medium, and minor as they lend themselves to describe the various emotions and the elaboration of the content of the lyrics. She also went into various details in handling each rAgam and the application of proper rhythm with which they would integrate. Additionally in Carnatic music the lyrics play a prominent role and the meaning of the lyrics (mostly expressing qualities of divinity and devotion) expresses the devotion soaked in emotion which is the cornerstone of Carnatic music.

The origin (and antiquity) of Bharata Natyam has an interesting story behind it. The celestials, it seems, were concerned about the decadence of humanity and tried to rectify the situation. They approached Brahma and requested him to simplify the Vedas so that the humankind can follow the code of conduct prescribed for them. Brahma then distilled the essence of the four Vedas, taking some aspect of each one and created a fifth Veda. He wanted this Veda to be spread among humanity not through text but through a performing art. He entrusted that task to a sage called Bharata Muni, who wrote up the rules for the dance in his text known as NAtyasAstra and taught them to heavenly damsels and a hundred of his disciples. The performing art incorporated the elements of drama and dance and was called Bharata Natyam.

The Bharata Natyam dancer's repertoire is extensive. Both from literary and sculptural evidence, it is made obvious that the dance was performed both as a solo item and also in groups. However, the present form of Bharata Natyam crystallized as a solo dance style about the 19^th century. The scope of the performance, as delineated by the four brothers of the Thanjavur Quartet (called MArgam format), is pretty much adhered to by the performers of Bharata Natyam today, especially during Arangetrams (debut performances), although new numbers are constantly added to the repertoire. The repertoire of Bharata Natyam is extensive but we generally see Alarippu (invocation in pure dance form), Jatiswaram (pure dance set to music but no song), Shabdam (interpretative dance with music and song), Varnam (presenting the cream of the dance art), Padams and JAvaLis (lyrical devotional songs for intensive abhinayam exposition), and Thillana (a sprightly item with brisk rhythms and movement).

Carnatic music and Western classical music share the common themes of melody and rhythm and while Carnatic music relies on prosody or lyrics (sAhityam) for emotive purposes, Western music emphasizes harmony. Sripriya delineated the various components of Carnatic music including melody (sruthi), rhythm (layam), and lyrics which make up the music in toto. She wants everybody to “see the music and hear the dance” and to do that, she emphasized, music has to play a prominent role in dance.

Sripriya invited two of her students to demonstrate two items—a shabdham (madhurAshtakam by the 14^th century composer St. VallabhAcAryA) describing the beauty of Lord Krishna. Every part of Krishna’s body such as lips, face, eyes, heart, form, and his song is nectar. The student (Deepti Shroff) danced to the vocal music of the late M. S. Subbulakshmi. The second item was a thillana danced by a student (Divya Rao)—a composition of a contemporary composer Lalgudi Jayaraman in the rAgam mOhankalyANi.

Public Funds for Private Security?

A recent Wall Street Journal article headline reads, “India’s Elite Covet Security Guards, Flashing Lights”. The article dealt with how the central and state governments are struggling to cope with increasing demands by public and private citizens for status symbols in categories such as VIP and Very VIP. The last letters (X, Y, Z, and Z+) of the alphabet are in huge demand. The government indulges in such largesse on not only political personalities and Bollywood stars but also newly minted billionaires, star athletes, retired judges, and a whole gamut of celebrities. The measure involves 16,500 police and paramilitary troops dedicated solely to protecting these VIPs. X level gets 2 armed cops, Ys receive 11, Zs get 22, and Z+ (the highest rating) gets 36 guards with weapons and escort vehicles. To some extent this is a carryover from the days of the British Raj. In addition to top government officials, India extends an official security rating to some well-heeled civilians who are very wealthy or famous. The economic burden of such protection forced the Home Ministry to consider revamping the system in order to shrink the security forces.

According to the story in Wall Street Journal, in September of last year the Bollywood megastar sustained a blow to his prestige as one of India’s officially designated VIPs. His government security category was reduced a notch to “X” from “Y”. That reduction meant the removal of nine government-paid police guards leaving only two plainclothes officers to shadow him. Pity the “Big B”! Of course, Big B can afford and does maintain his own private security guards numbering two dozen.

What is aggravating is that B’s “fans” are protesting the government move, characterizing it as a “slight” to their hero’s prestige! Many of these fans perhaps do not have three square meals a day. Subramanya Bharathi wrote during the British rule, “enRu maDiyum engaL aDimaiyin mOham?” (When will our infatuation with servitude disappear?) What would he say now?

While the rich and powerful can afford their own private security they cherish the government rating for bragging rights. While the government rating is not published anywhere conversations about who is “X”, “Y”, or “Z” in private gatherings add some spice and mystique. The Maharashtra state government has 550 people under police protection. While some of them are charged for the service many do not pay. Some bold officials are taking a stand to dilute the privilege, as are public interest lawyers.

Even Britain spent taxpayers’ money in the 1990s to protect celebrities such as writer Salman Rushdie during the years when Rushdie went underground on account of the fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini for committing blasphemy against Islam and prophet Muhammad in his novel The Satanic Verses published in 1988. The publication of the book provoked unrest in the Muslim world and created diplomatic wrangles between Britain and Iran. The fatwa is still valid, according to the Revolutionary Guards of Iran, although the fervor has mitigated now and Britain is not spending anymore for Rushdie’s protection.

Spending taxpayers’ money to protect “privileged” private citizens is considered quite unethical and immoral by many. The government should protect only its top leaders. Private citizens, especially the wealthy and famous ones, must have their own private security. The society, consisting of taxpayers, had already given them the opportunity to earn a fortune. The taxpayers should not have to support them any further. In the US private citizens of all cadres hire their own security force. It is time that India got rid of the obligation to provide police protection to private citizens. But the rich and famous do have connections in the highest political circles and hence the task is staggering. When those in power succumb to political influence and/or the politicians misuse their influence it is the responsibility of concerned citizens and the fearless press to bring the issue to light and rectify the situation.

Sage Agasthiyar


Author of this Blog


About Agasthiyar (the name of the blogspot):

Agasthiyar was a sage who existed in mythology as well as reality. The timeframe of Agasthiyar runs into the purANic (antiquity) ages and hence cannot be ascertained for sure. Agasthiyar created a treatise in Thamizh (a language with rich literature in the Indian subcontinent) which described the division of the language into its three main segments: iyal (prose), isai (music) and nATakam (drama), collectively known as mutthamizh. It is thus fair to say that Agasthiyar is the father of Thamizh language.

Agasthiyar had 12 disciples of whom tolkAppiyar was a prime disciple. TolkAppiyar wrote tolkAppiyam, the primal Thamizh grammar treatise on which all subsequent Thamizh works were based. TolkAppiyar is believed to have lived around 3rd century BCE. TolkAppiyam is still very much a standard text that is referred to in grammatical discussions of the Thamizh language.

Biographical information about Agasthiyar is scarce except what is gathered from religious literature. Agastihyar went south (according to religious lore) when Lord Siva's wedding with goddess Parvati took place in the Himalayas and the resulting geo-physical imbalance made Lord Siva to instruct Agasthiyar to go south in order to equalise the load. This is how, it is thought, the Aryan culture was carried to the south.

Good and Evil

Man is endowed with analytical faculty to distingusih between good and bad, and right and wrong. Most people do not commit any evil act simply because they think it is wrong or are afraid of the detrimental consequences if they do. Good and evil are usually farther apart and only rarely they are indistinguishable depending on circumstances. What is puzzling is that those who knowingly commit evil acts seem to prosper which delude others who abide by moral values. However, will the evil-doers get punished in the long run? That is a cosmic question.

Is God watching from a distance? No, definitely not! My heavens, what a relief! But wait a moment. What does one mean by "God watching from a distance". He is not outside. He is inside everybody. Most people look around them whenever they happen to do something undesireable or illegal. They feel relieved when no one watches them and hurry along. But is God really watching? Yes, because He is within. That is called "conscience". They are answerable to their own conscience. That will take a toll on them in the long run. The religions of the world prescribe as well as proscribe certain actions (the so-called "do's" and "don'ts"). But in the material world certain folks flout those rules.

When the extent of evil, be it in business, government, or personal relationships reaches a critical mass then the invisible hand intervenes. This is propounded by Bhagvat Geetha (Song of God), which was given as advice and admonition to the warrior Arjuna by Lord Krishna eons ago. The essence of Lord Krishna's admonition is that when people misuse their free will to create suffering for others, they are interfering with His divine plan for all human beings. At such times the Cosmic Leader appears on stage in human form to reeducate them. Here are two couplets on which to ponder.

yadhA yadhA hi dharmasya glAnirbhavathi bhAratha
abyuththanamadharmasya thadhAtmAnam srajAmyaham

Bhagavat Gita: ch IV, verse 7

Meaning: Whenever and wherever discrepancies in virtuous (and righteous) conduct become manifested and predominance of irreligious activities prevails then I shall appear forth.

parithrANAya sAdhUnAm vinAsAya ca dhuskruthAm
dharmasamsthApanArthAya sambhavAmi yugE yugE

Bhagavat Gita: ch IV, verse 8

Meaning: To redeem the good and innocent (devotees) and annihilate the miscreants, and to reestablish righteousness I shall visit (incarnate) time after time.