Jathiswaram - Thillana - Structure

[preyas]

There was a discussion in this forum on Thilana Structures. It explained clearly according at least to Kalashetra what is structure which goes with Thilana. I think Ksl wrote the note.

With that said, I was thinking of whether something similar was done for Jathiswaram. I have not been able to locate it.

Based on what I have seen recently I am trying to understand any rules.

1. With respect to the Jathiswaram I heard Ragamalika and Vasantha. In the dance I saw one was around 9 minutes and the other was around 6 minutes. I then realized that in the shorter ones the first part of the dance after the Jathi - it was made shorter (in the 6 minute one). These were both arangetram pieces.

2. With respect to the Thilana I saw the same song danced different in two arangetrams - in one there was multiple mei adavus and in the other there were lesser korvais.

The question is whether it is the dance teacher choreography which dictates how long these pieces can be done. Are there any rules which have to be followed - some dos and donts.

Hoping to get some light shone on these interpretations from different people on the forum

[mohan]

The actual music composition of a jathiswaram or tillana is pretty much fixed and if it is sung straight through then they are usually over in around 3-5 minutes. The tillana, like a krithi, usually has a pallavi, anupallavi and chanranam. The Jathiswaram has a pallavi and then 4 or 5 chitta swarams.

Now it is up to the dancer or choreographer to decide how many repititions occur to supplement the dance. The introduction of aduvas and korvais is all up to the dancer. Hence the same Tillana can either span 4 minutes or extend to 10 minutes or longer when danced. In the tillana usually most of the elaboration is done on the very first line of the pallavi.

[rshankar]

Sometimes, the length of the tillAnA can be further modified by the addition of savAl javAb sections.

[parimalphadke]

I am curious to know when was the sawal jawab section in the tillana introduced. Is it a post modern phhenomena or was it existant in the traditonal choreography pattern ?

Besides that I have also seen certain dancers include a jati-s ?

Can we say that these developements are the post modern trends of the traditional Bharatnatyam repertoire?

[rshankar]

Parimal - not every dancer/style has the savAl javAb segment or jatis. It is a very individualized choice, as far as I can tell, and was not part of the oiginal structure.

[preyas]

I have not observed such in the Thilanas I have seen. Can someone point towards something online which can show what is meant by the savAl javAb segment or jatis..

[madhan]

http://splicd.com/vBMT71LD9N4/138/191 - Dr.BMK's Brindavani thillana by Ms.Malavika Sarukkai
http://splicd.com/FcxsSZyTxMQ/237/314 - Shr.Lalgudi jayaram's Tillang thillana by Ms.Shobana
Both of these i think are wat Mr.rshankar meant when he said "saval - javab".. jathis i have seen too! For instance, I have seen Mr.L.Narendra Kumar use a jathi in his dhanashri thillana! I am not able to find any youtube videos at the moment.!