To me, this one feels like this was how sadir was perfomed in temples by devadasis a century or more.
Without the excessive formalized dress code that bharatnatyam acquired after it got "cleansed" and ''accepted" into mainstream (with largely brahmin patronage).
Lots of brisk fluid and sharp movements, yet, done with grace, leaps and yoga-like poses traversing a space that does not constrain, facial and physical expressions to add to the performance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM7oaujUek0
A different take : Modern yet traditional
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Re: A different take : Modern yet traditional
Smala - This is a lovely clip - I have been a close follower of Ms. Rukmini's clips on youtube. A graduate of the Boston Conservatory (like our forumite, Aishu) where she studied movement (IIRC), and a practitioner of yoga, she breathes fresh life with her choreographies (although I have seen a few of hers that are flat as well). Her duets with Sri Parshwanath are some of the best duo performances I have seen.
Her costumes are just a modification of the stitched bharatanATyam outfits first introduced by Smt. RDA (who designed them with an Italian seamstress from the Theosophical Society) - they typically have 5 pieces - hers has 4. Also, instead of using kAnci, dharmAvaram or even China silk, I think she uses different fabrics.
But - going by the pictures of sadir dancers that have survived, I can definitely say that their costumes were nowhere as elegant as Ms. Rukmini's, nor was the chunky jewelry they wore. Others more knowledgeable than I am can opine, but IMO, the very costumes they wore to dance in would have made leaps and any form of free and athletic movement rather risky for sadir dancers. It is the stitched costumes that allow the kind of freedom to attempt these really high-energy movements.
I do beileve that Cienu's family played a big role in the adoption of the stitched costumes - from what I understand, the arangETRam of Kumaris Radha Sadasivam and Anandi Krishnamurthy followed Smt. RDA's, and the Sadasivam and Kalki families were so taken by the costumes that they decided to go with something similar for their daughters' arangETRam. In parallel, their guru's other student (Kumari Kamala) was wearing similar costumes in her on-screen dances. Others followed, and as they say, history was made. And these costumes are now synonymous with bharatanATyam, that many forget that both the name and the constumes are of a comparable, and relatively recent vintage.
Her costumes are just a modification of the stitched bharatanATyam outfits first introduced by Smt. RDA (who designed them with an Italian seamstress from the Theosophical Society) - they typically have 5 pieces - hers has 4. Also, instead of using kAnci, dharmAvaram or even China silk, I think she uses different fabrics.
But - going by the pictures of sadir dancers that have survived, I can definitely say that their costumes were nowhere as elegant as Ms. Rukmini's, nor was the chunky jewelry they wore. Others more knowledgeable than I am can opine, but IMO, the very costumes they wore to dance in would have made leaps and any form of free and athletic movement rather risky for sadir dancers. It is the stitched costumes that allow the kind of freedom to attempt these really high-energy movements.
I do beileve that Cienu's family played a big role in the adoption of the stitched costumes - from what I understand, the arangETRam of Kumaris Radha Sadasivam and Anandi Krishnamurthy followed Smt. RDA's, and the Sadasivam and Kalki families were so taken by the costumes that they decided to go with something similar for their daughters' arangETRam. In parallel, their guru's other student (Kumari Kamala) was wearing similar costumes in her on-screen dances. Others followed, and as they say, history was made. And these costumes are now synonymous with bharatanATyam, that many forget that both the name and the constumes are of a comparable, and relatively recent vintage.
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Re: A different take : Modern yet traditional
Thanks smala, ravi. Absolutely delightful to watch her dance, so much at ease with herself.
Ravi, It is interesting that you mentioned that she studied movement. I did not even know one can take it up for study, but watching her dance, I can sense a degree of perfection and method to her movement which may be the result of such a study and training. There are many instances but especially noticeable when she rotates. When she finishes the rotation, she is just still for that fraction of a second without any "rubber band effect" ( bounce back and forth a bit ). Then I saw her technique. She is starting to decelerate right after the 3/4 of a turn and that enables her to get to that perfect stillness very smoothly.
Computer gamers say that they have a physics engine built in to their game to mean that the motions of objects on the screens obey the laws of physics, like gravitation and rotation. In that manner, she has a physics engine trained in to her!!
Ravi, It is interesting that you mentioned that she studied movement. I did not even know one can take it up for study, but watching her dance, I can sense a degree of perfection and method to her movement which may be the result of such a study and training. There are many instances but especially noticeable when she rotates. When she finishes the rotation, she is just still for that fraction of a second without any "rubber band effect" ( bounce back and forth a bit ). Then I saw her technique. She is starting to decelerate right after the 3/4 of a turn and that enables her to get to that perfect stillness very smoothly.
Computer gamers say that they have a physics engine built in to their game to mean that the motions of objects on the screens obey the laws of physics, like gravitation and rotation. In that manner, she has a physics engine trained in to her!!
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Re: A different take : Modern yet traditional
VK - movement is an establsihed area of study in various formats in the US - IIRC Ms. Mythili Prakash has a Masters degree from UCLA, and Smt. Preeti Vasudevan a Masters degree from the London School of Kinesiology - to name just a couple of bharatanATyam dancers I know about.
But, you do not need a degree in movement or kinesiology to execute so perfectly - watch this clip of Sri Parshwanath Upadhye. Hi dancing is the most masculine that I have seen; in this clip when he describes pArvati he is graceful, but never feminine - I think he may even be better than Prof. CV Chandrasekhar (but then, I have not had the pleasure of watching the professor in his hey day).
But, you do not need a degree in movement or kinesiology to execute so perfectly - watch this clip of Sri Parshwanath Upadhye. Hi dancing is the most masculine that I have seen; in this clip when he describes pArvati he is graceful, but never feminine - I think he may even be better than Prof. CV Chandrasekhar (but then, I have not had the pleasure of watching the professor in his hey day).
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Re: A different take : Modern yet traditional
Thanks Ravi. Two great clips in one day. Awesome.
You are right, one does not need a degree in movement to be crazy good at this.
Parshwanath is in great physical shape, the weight training he should be doing is quite evident.
Watching these two back to back, the analogy that came to my mind is the famale and male floor exercise in gymnastics. There is great commonality between the two but on the famale side, grace and power are more or less in equal degree whereas on the male side the grace recedes behind power slightly, or rather hangs off of it, and that brings forth a big change in the overall visual aesthetics.
You are right, one does not need a degree in movement to be crazy good at this.
Parshwanath is in great physical shape, the weight training he should be doing is quite evident.
Watching these two back to back, the analogy that came to my mind is the famale and male floor exercise in gymnastics. There is great commonality between the two but on the famale side, grace and power are more or less in equal degree whereas on the male side the grace recedes behind power slightly, or rather hangs off of it, and that brings forth a big change in the overall visual aesthetics.
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Re: A different take : Modern yet traditional
Thank you rshankar, delighted to read your commentary and the movement analysis by VK
I find her refreshingly different from the far too numerous dancers who do the SOT.
rshankar, if you haven't already seen this, you will find it interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFXcGiXpJBY

I find her refreshingly different from the far too numerous dancers who do the SOT.
rshankar, if you haven't already seen this, you will find it interesting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFXcGiXpJBY