-Sundari Ramachandran, USA

Of course, several dancers have brought out videos and DVDs on dance. They are not rare. For example, Swathi Soft Solutions has brought out a range of products on dance. Doordarshan and other companies have also brought out VCDs on dance. May be you can get a lot more in the near future.

I have just not been able to understand the exact difference between a jatiswaram and a swarajati. Some say swarajatis have saahitya too but in the swarajatis I have learnt in my music class, don't have any. So could you please clarify this doubt?

Jatiswaram is usually the second item in a dance recital. It begins with a short jathi followed by 'korvais' (sequence of adavus) for the musical swara patterns. Whereas 'Swarajathi' is like a varnam. It has a pallavi, anupallavi and charanam with 'sahitya' (lyrics). Eg: Swarajathis in Huseni, Ananda Bhairavi, compositions of the Tanjore Quartet.

In response to a question in this column, you have said 'You should conserve 65% of your energy and expend only 35 %'. Can you please let me know how we can conserve energy while dancing, without compromising on quality? Are there any specific techniques?

-Bhuvana

The technique is that you shouldn't go whole hog into a movement. You must develop a knack of executing a movement. That can be achieved only through practice. That is, there should be an effortlessness when you perform.

For example in Yoga, when you inhale and exhale, you do it slowly and rhythmically in a controlled manner. You conserve energy while doing this.

Could you please tell me the name of a good Bharatanatyam Guru in Bombay.

- Fernanda Desai, Brasil

Guru Rajee Narayanan and Rajarajeswari School are well known in Bombay.

Thank you for your enlightning column. My question is what is the definition of a theermanam. Is it just the ending in triplets of a jathi or a korvai or is it the entire jathi in, say Jathiswaram? Thanks.

-Meera

In dance, theermanam is another name for a jathi. As the word suggests, it is a complete jathi. A jathi is short, while a theermanam is long, as you find in Varnams.

I am looking for any compositions of Saint Thyagaraja that have been adapted for Bharatanatyam and are available as recordings. Could you make some suggestions. Thank you.

-Sandhiya

The pancharathna kritis and the well known Bhavayami Raghuramam are widely performed in Bharatanatyam recitals these days.

I am a dancer. I am learning dance for the past 10 years. Now I am in 10 std. I want to stop dance for 3 years. Studies are also important as dance. What is your opinion madam?

-Divya. G

Do not stop completely. Do not stop any exercise completely. Your body will become stiff. Practsie atleast a few adavus everyday to limber the body.

I am a 21 year old girl and I have a great passion to learn Bharatanatyam. I have been learning dance for around 2 years but that in my late years around my 12th std in schooling. Now that i really wanted to learn dance and I have practiced vazhuvur style of dancing from Mrs Prema Karunanidi, daughter of dance master Jayaraman from Madurai. At present I got a placement in Chennai. Will it be possible for me to do my arangetram and learn more about dance.

-Aparna, Chennai

Yes. There is no need to stop dancing. There are so many teachers in Chennai. If there is a will, there is a way.

Namaskaram. I'd like to know how to prepare for a salangai pooja. I have a student who learnt from a different teacher for a while and is learning from me now. She'll be in 12th grade next year and the family would love to have a salangai pooja and not an arangetram, owing to her academic commitments. What is the usual norm for the same? Thanks very much.

-Ramamoorthy, Jeyanthi

Salangai pooja is possible when a student is ready to perform for atleast an hour and 15 minutes. An alarippu, jatiswaram, may be a shabdham, definitely a varnam, one or two padams and a thillana. On an auspicious day, give her the salangai. She can perform before a small invited audience and honour the guru at the same time.

I am planning to do my arangetram at the end of August 2005 to a live orchestra. I currently reside in New Zealand. My plans are to utilise our local musicians but unfortunately we do not have a male vocalist in New Zealand. I was wondering if you are able to give me details of male vocal artistes who sing for arangetrams who reside in Australia or India.

-Vanitha, NZ

You may contact dancer Gayatri Krishnamurthy based in Australia, who may be able to help you.
E-mail: gayatrix@hotmail.com

My daughter is planning to do her arangetram next summer. We reside in Pennsylvania, USA and her teacher is a student of Kalanidhi Narayan. She wants to perform Aruna Sairam's song "Thaam theem tarana..." sung in her CD titled Madhusmriti, for her thillana during her arangetram. I am trying to get the lyrics and the meaning of the song as it is a Kaaliya Nartana song. Could you please help me?

-Radha Ramakrishnan.

Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan herself will be able to help you with this.

What are the differences between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi styles of dancing? I understand that originally, Kuchipudi was used for dance-drama/story telling with the dancer singing / speaking lines in between. However, my daughter, who is learning Bharatanatyam for the past 2 years recently saw a solo Kuchipudi recital and was wondering what the differences between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi were. Is the training different? Are the adavus used different? Both styles seem to be performed mainly in the ardhamandali position, and use similar mudras and costumes. Some obvious differences that were obvious to her were the entrance behind a screen, and the 'tarangam'. Thank you.

-Ravi Shankar, MD
Department of Pediatrics
Section of Endocrinology
IUSM, IUPUI, Indianapolis, IN

You're right, originally, Kuchipudi was performed as dance-dramas only. The basic adavu patterns between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi are different. The steps are fast paced and abhinaya is sensuous in Kuchipudi. If you watch a few more recitals, you will be able to find out the differences.

Are the sun and moon headset adornments meant to be worn only on a specific side? If so what is the significance of the side positions?

-Mini, MA, USA

The 'Sun' should be worn on the right side and the 'Moon' on the left side. In human beings, the right eye is said to denote the sun and the left eye denotes the moon.

I would like to know some good varnams, padams and tillanas for my daughter's arangetram next year. The teacher has told me to come up with a list of songs for the programme which she will then finalize.

-Latha

There are many dance-music albums available in the market. You can contact Essen Musicals in Chennai, E-mail: essenramesh@hotmail.com.

You can try cassettes like 'Sounds of Bharatanatyam', 'Madura Margam', Priyadarshini Govind's DVD on varnams.

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