We know often the yoga as a legacy of philosophical and sacred indian. But have you ever heard of the Bharata Natyam, indian sacred dance ? Leave to the discovery.

What is the Bharata Natyam ?

This dance of tamil origin is one of the oldest traditional dances of India. Its name is composed of three syllables (bha – ra – tha) can refer to the following words : bavam (facial expression), ragam (music and rhythm) and thalam (rhythm printed by hand). The word natyam means in tamil, the combination of movement, theatre and music. It is, therefore, a reference to the art of dance. Bharata natyam, like yoga, is an artistic road connection to the divine essence of the world as it is conceptualized in the tradition of hinduism. The idea : to find union with the essence of the world fragmented by the original chaos of the dance of Shiva. 

This dance is also, in the cosmogony of hinduism, of divine revelation. In fact, Shiva himself would have created at the request of other gods. His practice was originally reserved to the devadasi literally " servants of god ", women whose life was dedicated to the worship of a deity. All the body movements of the Bharata Natyam is codified in Natya Shastra, a treatise written between 200-year-av è. C. and 200 years ap. è. c. This book reference in particular sixty-seven mudras (position of the hands and fingers), and thirty-six positions of the eyes !

Achieve peace of mind through the discipline and beauty of the art

The dancer Balasaraswati (1918 – 1984) describes the Bharata Natyam as the experimentation profound beauty of the world and a means of total control of the spirit, bringing to the meeting of the divine and spiritual liberation. This spiritual revelation happening, in fact, by the sequence of complex postures and gestures extremely codified and techniques. This allows the intense concentration required by the dancer. 

« Le poids de l’action s’oublie dans le charme profond de la pratique artistique. Grâce aux pieds qui gardent le rythme, aux mains qui expriment le geste, au regard qui suit la main, à l’oreille qui écoute la musique du maître ainsi que ce que l’on chante soi-même, par l’harmonisation de ces cinq éléments, l’esprit atteint la concentration et la clarté. […] Le yogi atteint la sérénité par la concentration issue de la discipline. Dans la danse, les pieds, les mains, les yeux, les oreilles et le chant s’unifient jusqu’à parvenir à un état de fusion : la sérénité du yogi devient torrent de beauté. »

Telling stories through dance

This is what affects me in this dance. In fact, every movement, even the smallest (the position of the eyes, one for each finger), has a powerful symbolic meaning and is part of a path to spiritual ecstasy. Bharata Natyam is a real dance language. Like yoga, it also relies on the activation of the chakras and nadis. Each gesture has a role of activation energy in the body.

The beating of the feet on the ground, evokes, for example, the body, which is connected to the earth and Time, and the research of the connection to the present moment.

"Where goes the hand, going to the eye ; where the eye is going to the spirit ; and Where the spirit, the feeling wakes up and, when the feeling awakens, was born on the taste. "

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You've read an excerpt from the memory of Viviane, The power of the symbolic dance-therapy. Viviane teaches at the school Para La Salsa and was formed via the method Per Se Nota. You can find it on his account Instagram : @dance.with.the.fire

Check out the schedule of the training modules in dance therapy here.