That classical dance tradition comes from Tamilnadu. Earlier it was called “sadir kacheri”, “chinnalila” (“limited number of spectators”) or “dasiatta”. The name “Bharatnatyam” (or Bharata Natyam) it got only in the beginning 20th century. There are several hypotheses about its origin. According to one, that name was given in honour of rishi (sage) Bharata who had written Natyashastra. Another one says that it could be translated as “Indian dance” (Bharata is India, natya – dance). Though, many culturologists and dancers think that it is an abbreviation of the first syllables of three words: “bha” from “bhava” (feeling), “ra” from “raga” (melody), “ta” from “tala” (rhythm) – the key words of dance. That art originally was developing as temple dances performed by temple dancers – devadasi – many centuries B.C. Devadasi were considered to be the wives of God; there were even symbolic marriage ceremonies.

However, with the course of the time the tradition started to degrade. The style itself could become forgotten if not the efforts of Bharatnatyam tradition pioneers – Balasaraswati, Rukmini Devi Arundale – who actually gave a new life to that dance form. The system of movements consists of adavus – definite combination of choreographical elements. They are divided into different groups according to their similarity and complexity. Mostly they are performed in ardhamandali pose when the dancer’s legs are half-bent. Rukmini Devi had worked out a special system of adavus, that starts with the simplest and ends with the most complicated ones. All the movements are strictly canonized and systematized up to every detail. They must be performed very clearly, with hands, legs and the whole body to follow definite geometrical lines. The basic adavus are included in tat-adavu group (8 adavus) – in India the beginners start with them only and study them for nearly a year to work out a correct body position. The dances themselves, the items of a concert programme, are given by teacher much later – a scholar should not be too fast in learning if he/she wants to become a professional. Besides learning technical dances and perfect oneself in technique the student must devote much attention to abhinaya pieces, too. In early times it was very essential for the dancers to cultivate their religious feelings and let them manifest in dance. Now it just could not be an obligatory demand, but still if the one does not know anything on the spiritual culture of India – hardly he can perform abhinaya piece more or less successfully. Bharatnatyam is based on South Indian or Karnatac music system where the basic instruments are mridangam (it gives the rhythmic basis for the dance), kartaals, flute, and vina. As for the costume, originally

Bharatnatyam was performed in silk sarees; this dress is used also now, but more popular are imitations of it that give more freedom to movements – a costume consisting of trousers, choli (blouse), fan and dupata or the one with a long skirt. The men wear either dhoti or trousers with fan. Ghungru are not like the ones in Kathak – the number of them is smaller, and they are not so heavy and so big in size as in Kathak.