Bharatanatyam

Background

Bharatanatyam is a classical Indian dance form originating in Southern India that has existed for over 2000 years. Bharatanatyam comes from 'Bha' for Bhava, 'Ra' for Ragam, 'Tam' for Talam and Natyam meaning dance in Sanskrit. Bhavam means feelings and emotions, ragam is the melody of the music, and talam is the rhythym. The theoretical foundations started in Tamil Nadu, and the Sanskrit texts are referred to as Natya Shastra. The Natya Shastra texts describe the theories of rasa, bhava, expression, gestures, basic steps or aduvus and postures. Bharatanatyam started as a dance performed in Indian temples to the deities and has since transformed into a large cultural performance art for story telling.

Rangapravesham

Also known as an Arangetrem, Rangapravesham means 'ascending the stage' This is traditionally a dancer's first solo, public performance and is considered a graduation ceremony. During the Rangapravesham, the dancer performs a reportoire in a sequence knows as the 'Margam'. A Rangapravesham takes a lot of dedication and commitment towards the art form to learn 9 to 10 items for the performance. The guru or teacher deems a student ready when they believe that the student is ready to start sharing the knowledge of the art form.

Acknowledgements:

Costumes: Prabhat Costumes, Bangalore

Makeup: Traditions Beauty Studio, New Jersey

Photography: Jai Photo and Video, New Jersey

Decoration: Utsav by Rajani,New Jersey

Music: Team Dhamaruga, Bangalore

Choreography and countless hours of support: Sushama Aunty, Nrityopaasana School of Dance, New Jersey

Website Design: Sean Custer

Amma, Anna, and Sanjay for pushing me to do my best and being supportive through it all

Contact

Email: m0715.arangetram@gmail.com