One of our ballet students asked about the difference between Bharatanatyam and Bharatanrityam.The question is very interesting!
The main one is that Bharatanatyam is a classical dance originally from Tamil Nadu.It has been codified by the Tanjore Quartet during the reign of Sarfoji II, early nineteen century. It was known as Dasi Attam and performed first in temples then in courts. After the independence it has been revived as an Indian performing art and therefore became Bharata Natyam.
Bharatanrityam is a contemporary style created by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, a well known artist based in Chennai, combining the classical Bharatanatyam with the movements taken from the karanas (as they are seen in the temples of south India) and studied also in the ancient shastra (Natyashastra, Abhinavabharati and others.)
Bharatanrityam is a contemporary style created by Dr Padma Subrahmanyam, a well known artist based in Chennai, combining the classical Bharatanatyam with the movements taken from the karanas (as they are seen in the temples of south India) and studied also in the ancient shastra (Natyashastra, Abhinavabharati and others.)
Some of these karanas movements remind us of ballet steps like “grand battements” or even “rond the jambe an l’air”. The Natyashastra mentions the 16 “akash chari “( literary sky steps) which have some features very similar to ballet steps. The first one “ atikranta” is like a jete in attitude, or "dandapada" which is almost a grand battement to name a few....All this makes us think of a possible east-west cultural exchange happening long time ago...