TEMPLE DANCE
BHARATANATYAM
Indian Classical Dance
The Indian classical temple dance “Bharatanatyam” is part of the cultural heritage of humanity. The first written mention of this dance is over 5,000 years ago. Today, this dance form remains relevant and its message universal.
In Sanskrit, the word ‘dance’ is inclusive of art, spirituality, philosophy, and the wisdom of yoga. Bharatanatyam is a dance seeped in symbolic language and metaphor. Each musical beat and each step is mathematically calculated. Each eye movement and hand and finger gesture has meaning and is expressive of both the physical and celestial worlds.
Bharatanatyam is composed of: bhava (expression), raga (melody), tala (rhythm) and natyam (dance). Additionally, two essential components are the abstract, pure rhythmic dance (nrtta) and the narrative, expressive dance (nrtya, abhinaya)
The main purpose of this dance is the expression of beauty, divinity, joy, inspiration, and spirituality.
