Forum Pakistan

A dance evolved in southern India. The long history of this stylised dance has been well recorded both in visual and textual documents. These dance traditions were the heritage of performers who were part of the courts of kings, or performers who were part of religious traditions. In Pakistan the statuette of the dancing girl of Mohenjo-Daro, with her limbs and hip frozen in a particular pose, evokes those traditions.

It was in the 1930s that pioneers such as Rukrnini Devi and Krishna Iyer revived dancing traditions and set the tone for the Bharata Natyarn dance of today. It is one of the most developed art forms, that relates to all the aspects of human existence: body, psyche and the soul.

A peculiar style or stance of Bharata Nat yam is arai mandi or half bent knees position. The dancer combines body movements, eyes, head and neck movements, facial expressions and hand gestures in a repertoire that normally begins by salutations to the gods, the guru and the audience. After the first two dance items called allarippu andjatiswaram, which are purely abstract, are performed the abhinaya or nritya. This is a part of the dance full of sepression. Tillana is the final item in the Bharata Nat yam repertoire, and is another excellent example of pure and abstract dance. It is entirely governed by the scintillating musical score and incorporates intricate foot-work and sculpturesque Doses.