First and foremost, I offer my humble pranams to my Guru Natya Kala Sarathy Smt Malathy Thothadri, Director Kalasagara, who by her selfless and endless teaching, guides me and helps me improve and innovate in this art form.

Bharathanatyam is a combination of the Nritta and Nrithya. Nritta involves performing the adavus or the dance steps rhythmically while Nrithya or abhinaya is the art of emoting and capturing the audience to elicit an empathetic response. For a successful performance the dancer must excel both in the Nritta and Nrithya.

While the angika abhinaya involves usage of body and limbs, the vachika abhinaya is expressing through songs and literature. The aharya abhinaya is expressed through adorning beautiful ornaments and costumes while the Saativika abhinaya is emoting feelings through soulful expressions from within. My guru has always taught us that all these four aspects of Abhinaya are very crucial for a dance performance. She has also emphasized that it is very important for the dancer to have sound music knowledge which will aid in expressing the correct abhinaya, be strong in rhythm and finally enjoy dancing. One should be able to understand the song or poem, its lyrical meaning, and the plot of the choreography to be able to bring out its complete essence through beautiful facial expressions and set the right mood.

For instance, when one is donning the role of Sita who has been abducted by the mighty King Ravana and has been kept in captive at the Ashoka Vana, the dancer must be able to imagine this grave situation and emote the right expressions at the right moment. Sita Devi was in immense grief when she was in the Ashoka Vana thinking about Rama all the time, but when Ravana comes to the Vana, she expresses pure disgust or the Bibastha rasa by comparing him to just a piece of grass and thereon fumes with anger or Roudra rasa when Ravana belittles Lord Rama. When Sita meets Hanuman, the messenger of Lord Rama, her joy knew no bounds and she showers her Karunyam and is also in awe of seeing the Rama Bhakthi of the mighty Hanuman and expresses Ascharya Rasa. So, the dancer here should be able to emote five different types of emotions gradually transitioning from one rasa to the other taking the audience along.

Solo performances involve dancers to completely emote the sanchari or the story end to end with the variations in expressions. Group dance dramas are very interesting involving a thematic presentation of an epic or a story. We have many dancers adorning beautiful character costumes, playing various roles taking the audience to a totally uplifted zone.

For young dancers, to be able to emote well, they can prepare a dialogue format as per their understanding so that it will be easier to bring out the right facial expressions. It is very essential to also keep in mind the eye, hand, limb positions, and the body movements as per the expressions the dancer intends to emote. One should understand the Nava Rasas or the 9 types of emotions and practice stories that are linked to these rasas to improve on their facial expressions. The crux of the situation or the story line that they are going to present should be clearly understood in the sequential order of events. The correct emotion must be expressed, and it should transition smoothly to create a massive impact. My Guru always encouraged us to watch a lot of dance programs by eminent Bharathanatyam artistes. She felt that it will help us improve a lot by learning certain good aspects and most importantly also understand that certain things do not look good and should be avoided while presenting on stage.

For me, abhinaya has been a favorite aspect right from my childhood. I have always been excited to perform padams or songs that involve varied expressions. I loved to be part of the group recitals of my institution. Among those, I have had the opportunity to play roles of Sri Kodhai Nachiyar, Sri Peria Azhwar, Sri Tulasi Das to name a few. But one role that has been very close to my heart was that of Sri Valli. The costume for Sri Valli was that of a huntress, a Kuravanji. She had immense bhakthi and affection on Lord Muruga. It was just not Bhakthi but Valli had to express sarcasm, anger and disgust at Lord Muruga who came disguised as a hunter and thereon as an old man showing interest in her. Finally, being scared by an elephant which was none other than Lord Ganesha, she begs the old man to save her. The emotional trauma she faces when she is forced to agree on marriage with the old man, is the pinnacle of the emotion that the dancer must take the audience to. I still remember my Guru emote this entire portion so beautifully to me. It will be etched in my heart as a beautiful memory forever.

I would also like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the founder of NaatyaBhoomi, Ms. Mridula Sriram for giving me this opportunity to pen down my thoughts on the abhinaya aspect of Bharathanatyam.