The Cosmic Dance: Bharata Natyam

Jessica Hutchinson

Department of Dance

Faculty Sponsor: Ms. Jaye Knutson

(2004)

The Hindu culture believes that the arts contain important and essential methods for teaching and intellectual training, ultimately informing man of their purpose in life: high elevation to spiritual consciousness and/or realization of oneness with the Creator and the universe. Among the many disciplined art forms derived from the East Indians, the sacred dance of Bharata Natyam is ideal in possessing religious significance in East Indian culture and is derived from and symbolic of these Hindu spiritual principles. This research presents the relevancy of the gestural content of Bharata Natyam as the movements create geometric figures and shapes to display the beauty of creation, capturing form, movement, space, and time as sacred diagrams or mandalas and the nine planets or navagrasha, ultimately representing the dancer's connection with universe. Finally, emphasizing that Bharata Natyam is significant as it utilizes every part of the body to convey messages of the knowledge of the Hindu Doctrine.

Extensive socio-cultural research has been done using various websites, books, and videos. Descriptions of various poses, gestures, and movements along with pictures and translated meanings in Sanskrit are included to further support and demonstrate the strong relationship between Hindu Doctrine and East Indian culture in reference to Bharata Natyam. This research will be conveyed primarily by PowerPoint Presentation, highlighting key aspects of research identifying various gestures, what they symbolize, and how these gestures serve as a tool in teaching the knowledge of the Hindu Doctrine.

Links

Updated July 9, 2004