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Have you ever wondered about the science behind classical dancing? Ever thought of the significance of Mudras in Bharatanatyam? All Indian classical dance forms and yoga use Mudras, which are hand, body, & eye gestures that portray different meanings. Mudras help us communicate many things with the help of non-verbal cues.
Think back on your own life, when have you not used your hands to communicate many things? For example, when you want to ask ‘what?’ or ‘where?’ or ‘why?’ – you often open your fingers in a flower shape with your palm up. This is the “alapadma” Mudra. Just like alapadma, there are many other Mudras we use in our daily lives. Mudras facilitate certain energies in the body; it has been scientifically proven that specific Mudras can induce response in certain states of mind and consciousness.
It is customary to use Mudras for meditation and yoga-based exercises for the purpose of the said flow of energies, for Bharatanatyam on the other hand, it is also used for expressing different emotions and state of mind. If I am worried about something I might use the Mudra “Chakra”, fingers together and thumb apart for both hands facing each other at a right angle and close my palms together. With some added expression of the eyes, we have a worried expression. This was one example of many that exist for us to express ourselves.
Bharatanatyam is an equal measure of Bhava (expression), Rasa (melody), & Tala (rhythm). Natyam stands for dance. This equal measure causes us to maintain balance of our body and is scientifically known to improve brain functions. In addition, these Mudras when mixed with dance can create a sense of physical balance along with its impact on our muscle memory, cognition, and healing as proven by neuroscience.
According to another study conducted in the University of Hertfordshire by Dr. Peter Lovvat, it was discovered that the three elements in dance, i.e. Physical, cognitive, and emotional, were vital for improving health. With the online world that we live in, with fifteen seconds reels, the attention span in people nowadays is extremely low and this causes minds to be restless. What we need is to bring back our focus and balance of both our minds and our bodies.
Dance is rich in the things that will help you with the mentioned balance and Mudras aid us with the same. It is about the simple essence of touch. Apart from this equilibrium, like any other dance Bharatanatyam is also taught through a manner of repetitive counting on which the steps are broken into. These steps come in three varying speeds called Vilambit (slow), Madhya (medium), & Dhruta (fast).
Bharatnatyam is a sublime 'Sadhana' of achieving a fine balance between science, speed, emotions and the art of expressions and Mudra.