The Art Forms
Dance
Indian Classical Dance forms are an embodiment of beauty,
dynamism, charm and grace. The dancer becomes a Nayika or
"heroine", who yearns to realise Bliss as she unites with
her Nayaka or "Supreme Lover" and "Divine Lord". The dance
[form] makes tremendous demands on the dancer not
just at the physical level but in terms of the mind as
well.
Dance Ihayami teaches and uses in it’s choreography the
following dance forms: Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyatam, Odissi,
Kerala Nadanam, Kathakali and Kuchupudi.
Visit http://dances.iloveindia.com/index.html
to read more about the dance styles
The legend
Hindus trace every art and science to a divine origin. The
Natya Shastra or "Science of Dancing" was fathered by no
less a deity than Brahma himself, first in the great trinity
of the Hindu Pantheon (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva).
Brahma, moved by the entreaties of Indra (the supreme ruler
of the Gods) and other gods for a pastime befitting the
inhabitants of Heaven, distilled the essence of the 4 Vedas
or "Holy Scriptures" to compile the 5th Veda- Natya Shastra.
He took the poems from the Rig Veda (the oldest of the
Vedas), the music from the Sama Veda, the gestures from the
Yajur Veda, and the Rasa (aesthetic elements) from the
Adharva Veda. So was born the "Art of Dancing".
The 5th Veda was thereafter bestowed by Brahma the Creator
to Sage Bharata and his hundred sons and disciples who in
due course passed it on to the mortals on Earth. All the
Indian Classical Dances are based on the rules laid down by
Sage Bharata in the treatise; Natya Shastra.
Bharathanatyam is the oldest, strictly traditional and the
purest form of dance among the contemporary classical dance
forms of India. This 3000 year old art is still as fresh as
when it inspired the Indian sculptors who carved their
imagination on stone. Thus India became and remains a land
where the teaching of the sages was imparted not only
through learning and philosophy but through arts, music and
dance.
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Contact us
54 Manor Place | Edinburgh | EH3 7EH | United Kingdom
tel: +44(0)131 225 9399 | fax: +44(0)131 539 9999
e-mail: info@danceihayami.org
Company registration no. SC 253720 Scottish charity no. SC 034810
Web design: www.razzdesign.com Photos: Paul Watt and Susan Richards