One of 8 classical Indian dance forms:

• Bharata Natyam; Kathak; Kathakali; Kuchipudi; Manipuri; Mohiniyattam; Odissi; Sattriya

• Different regions of India have different dance styles (Kathak is from the North)
• Your Guru is your mirror
• Facial expressions are very important and often exaggerated (mostly joyous, but it depends on the narrative of the dance)
• Symmetry is a key feature: movement performed on right and left of the body for balance
• Generally, it’s very precise
• Sometimes a dancer will directly interpret every word of a song, other times it’s more abstract
• Sometimes, dancers wear bells (this limits your legs to staying low, bells can weigh 5kg on each foot)
• All dance classes are started and ended with a greeting:
  • addressing the ground, a higher power, family and friends, the audience

ACTION

• hand gestures are called HASTAS, each has a meaning
• Complex stamping and tapping of the feet
• focus is mostly on the hands (position of eyes is important)
• percussive feet
• Stamping with a flat foot (the arch of your foot makes contact with the floor too, unlike ballet)
• co-ordination is key (facing, eyes, arms, fingers, feet all have to be consciously controlled)

SPACE

• generally low levels (a lower centre of gravity allows your feet to move faster)

 

 

 

 

Plan to use counterpoint in the first section of silence, and maybe disassociation throughout the rest.

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Section C – Manipulation

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Section B – Abuse (Intro)

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Older stuff:

Section B – Abuse (Intro)

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A random motif, needs development if included

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Older stuff:

Section C – Manipulation

The piece begins quietly and slowly.

 

• Could be an atmosphere of waiting, contemplation before the show begins. Very slow movement, if any.

 

There is a very gradual crescendo in volume from the beginning all the way through to about a minute in, during this time, a short melodic phrase is repeated increasingly consistently.

• Show begins (maybe it will start with slower movements as an introduction like the music is)

 

At exactly 1:21, the volume increases at a comparatively extreme rate. At 1:40, percussion is (soft, constant, controlled and fast) introduced, and the melodic phrase from the beginning becomes the main focus of the piece. The melody’s tempo, the volume is kept constant – a phrase of around 2 counts of 8 is repeated.

 

• Second show: slightly more conflicted, the audience will see a slight change in the otherwise completely identical movement to the first show, the dynamic is slightly more aggressive.

 

3:31 – build in volume, a sort of climax. 3:49, melody becomes lower and more sinister, percussion gets louder.

 

• Third show: movement becomes more chaotic, certain elements for pieces in between the shows (sections B, C and D) seep through.

 

From here through to the end, more layers of melody and percussion are introduced, the music is louder and more chaotic.

 

• Climax: links to all sections falling together / overlapping, the ‘facade’ has collapsed. The audience should make the connection between the separate sections.

 

At 5:15, they come to an abrupt stop – there is only 1 note playing quietly until the piece finishes.

 

• Finish with stillness?