All of the performing arts in old Hindu society had a close tie to religious life, and dancing was no exception.
Dancers simply follow the divine model in their craft, since Shiva is the supreme dancer in Indian mythology; fact, it is via his dancing that he first creates the cosmos and then destroys it.
A number of traditional dance genres have been linked to certain Hindu temples.
Beginning with the Brhadeshvar temple in Tanjore, the Bharatanatyam form evolved in Tamil Nadu temples and is immortalized in the sculptures of the Shiva temple at Chidambaram.
The Orissi style was inspired by the Jagannath temple in Puri, India, near the Bay of Bengal.
The Kathakali form in Kerala, the Kuchipudi form in Andhra Pradesh, the Chau form in eastern India, and the Manipuri form in Manipur are some of the other ancient forms that were originally performed solely in temples or had their origins in religious festivals.
The lone exception is the Kathak form of northern India, which was born and performed in a court rather than a temple, but whose subject matter often dealt with religious themes, notably those related to devotion to the deity Krishna.
All of these techniques have a highly developed language of gesture (mudra) and emotion through which the dancer may tell the audience a tale.
The dancer's goal, like in other ancient arts, is to create and convey a certain aesthetic mood (rasa), which will elicit a similar emotional response (bhava) from the audience.
Aside from these fundamental commonalities, each shape has its own own personality and artistic aspect.
The most visibly linked forms are Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Orissi, however while Bharatanatyam shows a sharply geometric line with a rigid upper body, Kuchipudi and Orissi's lines become gradually softer, rounder, and more fluid.
Kathakali is distinguished by its extravagant costumes and theatrical makeup, as well as its emphasis on facial movement development and control.
These factors make it easier and more powerful to express yourself.
Manipuri and Chau are both extremely athletic types of dance that clearly reflect folk dance influences.
Chau is unique in that the dancers always wear masks, which creates a mood.
Kathak is the only dance style in which the dancer's legs are maintained straight; the form emphasizes sophisticated footwork in which the dancer's ankle bells act as a complement and counterpoint to the drum, as well as dramatic twists and spins.
Except for Kathak, all dance traditions arose in a religious setting, as previously stated.
Dance was often performed as an offering to the deity, and it was primarily performed for the deity's entertainment, though other spectators could enjoy it as well.
Although many schools have their own typologies, the most common distinction is between "pure" dance (nrtya), which conveys nothing more than the dancer's ability to move, and "acting" dance (natya or abhinaya), which tells a tale.
Until the nineteenth century, the dancers were mainly devadasis, or temple slaves.
The devadasis were legally wedded to the temple's god and performed numerous ceremonial functions as his "wife" at the temples, but they were free to have affairs with other men.
The temple's offspring would also be in service to the temple, with their males as musicians and their girls as dancers.
This arrangement occasionally devolved into common prostitution, but it was often distinguishable.
Even though their status was unusual and thus marginal, these women had their own status and property.
The dance performance site has shifted from the temple to the stage in the twentieth century, which has had a number of consequences in terms of transforming it from a form of worship to a performing art.
See Mohan Khokar, Traditions of Indian Classical Dance, 1984, for more information on the dance's history and various manifestations.
See Frederique Apffel Marglin's Wives of the God-King, 1985, for a masterful analysis of the devadasis.
You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.
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