Sri Nrithyalaya Academy of Fine Arts

Dancing is Divine

“Yatho Hasta thatho Drishti, Yatho Drishti thatho Manah
Yatho Manah thatho Bhaava, Yatho Bhaava thatho Rasa”
― Natyashastra

Welcome to Sri Nrithyalaya Academy of Fine Arts

Dancing is divine!!!

According to the Hindu tradition the name of the dance form was derived by joining two words, Bharata and Natyam where 'Natyam' in Sanskrit means dance and 'Bharata’ is a mnemonic comprising ‘bha’, ‘ra’ and ‘ta’ which respectively means ‘bhava’ that is emotion and feelings; ‘raga’ that is melody; and ‘tala’ that is rhythm. Thus, traditionally the word refers to a dance form where bhava, raga and tala are expressed.

The theoretical base of this dance form, which is also referred as Sadir, trace back to ancient Indian theatrologist and musicologist, Bharata Muni’s Sanskrit Hindu text on the performing arts called ‘Natya Shastra’. The text’s first complete version was presumably completed between 200 BCE to 200 CE, however such timeframe also varies between 500 BCE and 500 CE.

According to legends Lord Brahma revealed Bharatanatyam to the sage Bharata who then encoded this holy dance form in Natya Shastra. The text that consists of thousands of verses structured in different chapters divides dance in two specific forms, namely ‘nrita’ that is pure dance comprising of finesse of hand movements and gestures, and ‘nritya’ that is solo expressive dance that comprises of expressions.

According to Russian scholar Natalia Lidova, ‘Natya Shastra’ elucidates several theories of Indian classical dances including that of Tandava dance, standing postures, basic steps, bhava, rasa, methods of acting and gestures.

An artist plays a character, not with his body, but with the mind.

Rukmini Devi

Bharathanatyam Dancer

Movement, music and design must be part of schooling. Dance is like fundamental science. When you invest in it, you invest in human beings.

Jayachandran Palazhy

"An inhibited mind and body cannot bring out the expressive abandon of dance. Besides finding your feet, you also should find a voice and vision.

Kumudini Lakhia

An artiste's struggle is strictly private but what comes out of it belongs to everybody.

Balasaraswati

Bharathanatyam Dancer

You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.

Friedrich Nietzsche

The dancer's body is simply the luminous manifestation of the soul

Isadora Duncan

Bharathanatyam Dancer

Dance is the hidden language of the soul.

Martha Graham

When I dance, I cannot judge, I cannot hate, I cannot separate myself from life , I can only be joyful and whole, that is why I dance.

Hans Bos

To dance is to be out of yourself, larger,more beautiful, more powerful.

Agnes De Mille

She is a DANCER ! Beware, she knows how to talk without even uttering a singhle word.

Nimisha Saxena

In a flurry of activity, the suggestive charm of Bharatanatyam is forsaken for overt narratives which play to the gallery. After all, much of dance is, at present, a community activity.