Meet Miss Fiola Aranha, our very own Bharat Natyam Exponent

Miss Fiola Aranha, daughter of Mr. Felix Aranha & Mrs. Leticia Aranha, residing at Yogi Nagar, Borivali (West),a student of Mary Immaculate Girl's High School, Std.8th, gave her first on-stage performance or ARANGETRAM, in Bharat Natyam in June 2008. She has been practising this dance form for the past 7 years. It needs rigorous training, hardwork, commitment, great patience and dedication to learn this art. We congatulate her for her achievement and wish her all the best for her future endeavours.

Karanas

Karanas are the 108 key transitional movements that punctuate Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian dances. Most of these 108 Karanas have a central, static pose as a base, i.e. the dancer is usually supposed to stop and maintain it for a very brief duration (0.5 sec). Read more about Karanas.

Hastas

A distinctive feature of Bharata Natyam Dance is the use of expressive hand gestures as a way of communication. Hastas refers to the varieties of hand symbols that a dancer can use. Many of these hand gestures are well known. For example, Anjali is often used as a salutation when a person greets another person. There are two types of Hastas : Asamyuta and Samyuta (single and combined, respectively). Abhinayadarpanam describes 28 Asamyuta Hastas and 24 Samyuta Hastas and their usage viniyoga, although Natya Shastra mentions many more, and the usages stated in Abhinavabharati differ considerably from those of Abhinayadarpanam, which is a relatively recent text. Many hastas can be used in more than one way, depending on the song accompanying the dance, and what the dancer is trying to convey to the audience.

Adavus

A series of steps, adavus, and their execution vary greatly from style to style. Most schools recognize 108 principal adavus, while some styles include over 150 adavus. Few professional dancers use more than 60. A combination of adavus is called jathis, which make up the Nritta passages in a Bharatanatyam performance.

Bhedas and eye movements

Bharatanatyam technique includes many other elements, such as elaborate neck and eye movements. Abhinaya Darpanam has defined in all 9 head movements, 4 neck movement and 8 eye moments which are used extensively throughout the dance.

Head Movements (Shiro bhedas): Sama, Udhvahita, Adhomukha, Alolita,Dhutam, Kampitam, Paravruttam, Utkshiptam and Parivahitam.

Neck Movements (Griva bhedas): Sundari, Tirashchina, Parivartita, Prakampita

Eye Movements (Drishti bhedas): Sama, Alolita, Sachi, Pralokita, Nimilite, Ullokita,Anuvritta, Avalokita