BHARATANATYAM
Bharatanatyam, also spelt Bharatnatyam or Bharathanatyam, is a classical dance form of South India, said to be originated in Thanjavoor
of Tamil Nadu. 
It was known as "Daasiyattam" since performed by Devadasies in temples of Tamil Nadu long ago. The name 'Bharatanatyam' is derived from three basic concepts of Bhava, Raga and Thaala. The modern Bharatanatyam was systematically regularized by well known 'Thanjavoor Brothers', Ponnayya,
Chinnayya, Sivanandam and Vativelu.
The dance is performed in the stage as Nritham, Nrithyam and Natyam. Bharatanatyam is based on the theories of the books 'Natyasaasthram' and 'Abhinaya Darpanam'. The dance form is based on 'Adavu' (steps) and 'Hasthamudra' (hand gestures). There are 64 basic 'Adavu' and they are divided into 9 parts, on which 'Thattadavu', 'Naatadavu', 'Kuthithumettadavu', 'Mandiadavu', 'Sarikkal' and 'Thattumettu' are very important. Communication is done through 'bhavabhinaya' (facial expression) and 'hasthamudra' (hand gestures). The performance starts with the prayers to God Ganapathi and worship of Nataraja Moorthi.
The sequence of the dance performance is 'Alarippu', 'Jathiswaram', 'Sabdam', 'Varnam', 'Padam' and 'Thillana'. After 'Thillana', with a 'Mangala Slokam' the dance program ends. Normally the performance lasts for two to two and half hours.
The costume is paijama and jacket of Kanchipuram silk and Banaras silk. The dancer wears a lot of ornaments of shining stones on neck, ears, hands, and head, jasmin garland in the hair and foot trinklet with small bells.
The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Carnatic classical music. The instruments used are Veena, Flute, Mridangam and Violin. The dance direction is done by 'Nattuvanar' giving the Thaalam using hand symbols and singing 'Vaaythari'. There will be two singers also.
Some of the famous Bharatanatyam performers are Bala Saraswathi, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rugmini Arundel, Kamala Laxman, Padma Subrahmaniam and Chithra Visweswaran. Panthanalloor Meenakshi Sundaram Pilla, Panthanalloor Chokkalingam Pilla, Padmasree Vazhoor Ramayyan Pilla and Adayar Laxman are some of the famous 'Nattuvar'.
It was known as "Daasiyattam" since performed by Devadasies in temples of Tamil Nadu long ago. The name 'Bharatanatyam' is derived from three basic concepts of Bhava, Raga and Thaala. The modern Bharatanatyam was systematically regularized by well known 'Thanjavoor Brothers', Ponnayya,
Chinnayya, Sivanandam and Vativelu.
The dance is performed in the stage as Nritham, Nrithyam and Natyam. Bharatanatyam is based on the theories of the books 'Natyasaasthram' and 'Abhinaya Darpanam'. The dance form is based on 'Adavu' (steps) and 'Hasthamudra' (hand gestures). There are 64 basic 'Adavu' and they are divided into 9 parts, on which 'Thattadavu', 'Naatadavu', 'Kuthithumettadavu', 'Mandiadavu', 'Sarikkal' and 'Thattumettu' are very important. Communication is done through 'bhavabhinaya' (facial expression) and 'hasthamudra' (hand gestures). The performance starts with the prayers to God Ganapathi and worship of Nataraja Moorthi.
The sequence of the dance performance is 'Alarippu', 'Jathiswaram', 'Sabdam', 'Varnam', 'Padam' and 'Thillana'. After 'Thillana', with a 'Mangala Slokam' the dance program ends. Normally the performance lasts for two to two and half hours.
The costume is paijama and jacket of Kanchipuram silk and Banaras silk. The dancer wears a lot of ornaments of shining stones on neck, ears, hands, and head, jasmin garland in the hair and foot trinklet with small bells.
The music of Bharatanatyam is based on Carnatic classical music. The instruments used are Veena, Flute, Mridangam and Violin. The dance direction is done by 'Nattuvanar' giving the Thaalam using hand symbols and singing 'Vaaythari'. There will be two singers also.
Some of the famous Bharatanatyam performers are Bala Saraswathi, Mrinalini Sarabhai, Rugmini Arundel, Kamala Laxman, Padma Subrahmaniam and Chithra Visweswaran. Panthanalloor Meenakshi Sundaram Pilla, Panthanalloor Chokkalingam Pilla, Padmasree Vazhoor Ramayyan Pilla and Adayar Laxman are some of the famous 'Nattuvar'.As listed below, we are building a database of Bharatnatyam artists. One webpage will be made free for each artist and linked in this page along with below list of artists. If you are a Bharatanatyam artist or if you wish to recommend any artist, you can send the following materials to our email ID
 . Valid submissions will be scrutinized, edited and placed in the site within 3 weeks.
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Bharatanatyam Artists 1. Priya Murali 2. Sucharita Datta 3. Ganga Thampi 4. A. Janardhanan 5. Smt. Shaly Vijayan 6. Renjith Babu C. 7. The Dhananjayans 8. Parvathi Ravi Ghantasala 9. Fumika Kawaharada 10.J. Suryanarayana Murthy 11.Bobby Joseph 12.Rumya Shanker 13.Deepa Lakshmi 14.Lakshmi N. Pillai 15.Swarna 16.Radha Marar 17.Uma Palam Pulendran 18.Gayathri Subramaniam 19.Rashmi Joji John 20.Shweta Nair 21.Kalaimamani Sailaja 22.Sapna Patil 23.Jwala Priyadarshini Rejimon Musicians 1. Arun Gopinath Mridangists 1. Gajendra Ganesan 2. Kiran Gopinath |
External Links 1. Rema Shrikant 2. Vasumathi Badrinathan 3. Shobana 4. Febina Mathew 5. K.Mohanan & Sunitha Mohanan 6. Medha Hari 7. Radha Dutta 8. Anupa Thakurta 9. Aline Civinelli 10.Rani 11.Gayatri Subramanian 12.Parvathy Raghunath 13.Anjali Nandan 14.Pranita Jain Musicians 1. Babu Parameswaran |
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