Beginners Stage (3-4 years – depends on the students’ speed)1. Adavu (Basic Steps)
Set 1: Thaddhu Adavu Set 2: Naadhu Adavu Set 3: Mettu Adavu Set 4: Pakka Adavu Set 5: Kuthithu Mettu Adavu Set 6: Thadhi Mettu Adavu Set 7: Sutral Adavu Set 8: Kutthu Adavu Set 9: Paichal Adavu Set 10: Sarigai Set 11: Makuta Adavu Set 12: Theermana Adavu |
1. Mudras – hand gestures; 28 Asamyukta Hastas
(Single Hand) and 24 Samyukta Hastas (both Hands) 2. Karanas – bending (108) 3. Neck & Eye Movement 4. Theory 5. Basic postures & different types of walking styles 6. Nava Rasa (Facial Expressions) Sringara Rasa Raudra Rasa Veera Rasa Hasya Rasa Karuna Rasa Vibhatsa Rasa Adbhuta Rasa Bhayanaka Rasa Shanta Rasa |
8. Songs:
Phusphanjali - In Sanskrit, pushpam means "flower" and anjali means "offering with folded hands". Pushpanjali means offering of flowers with folded hands. It is a song performed by bharathanatyam dancers as an opening item to offer flowers to the Gods and to welcome the audience.
Ganapathi Kavuthuvam - Lord Ganapathi, son of Parvati and Shiva and the remover of obstacles. He has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. This is a fast-paced invocatory dance where the dancers offers their prayers to the Lord Ganesha and seeks his blessings to make the event success. In a Kauthuvam, chollukattus (rhythmic syllables) are intertwined with the lyrics of the song. Thus it has both nritta (footwork) and abhinaya (expressions) components in its choreography.
Subramanya Kavuthuvam - It is a dance item in praise of Lord Murugan, husband of Valli Deivanai. With the peacock vehicle (mayil vaganan), he helps his devotes in hard time and appears to the devotees’ request to resolve their problems despite of rain, lightning and storm or in any situation.
Natesha Kavuthuvam - This item is performed to offer the prayers to Lord Nadarajan, the dancing God, superior judge of the event. Natesha Kavuthuvam is a very important invocatory item that dancers must perform for the Salangai Poojai to get the rays of blessings from Lord Nadarajan.
Alarippu - Alarippu in tamil means flowering bud, blossoming of body and mind, and is also known as Alarisu. It is an
invocation piece, symbolising the offering of respects to both God and the audience. It is a dance ritual entirely based on
rhythm and is focused on relaxing the body of the dancer, thereby relaxing her mind and symbolizes her awakening. The
alarippu is done in three tempos, first in samabhangi, aremandi, purnamandi, intricate adavus and ends with mukthayas. This nritha item symbolises offering prayer to God, to the stage and solution to preceptors and elders.
Jathiswaram - Jathiswaram is a pure dance presentation, devoid of any abhinaya (emotions), in which, intricate sequences are fused with repetitive musical notes. The dance deals with the execution of adavus (basic steps) and mudras (hand gestures), combined in definite groups. Jathis (rhythmic pieces danced to narrated syllables) are executed combining swara passages (musical scores) in a particular raga and tala.
Thillana - Thillana is A fast and lively dance, which traditionally concludes a Bharathanatyam recital.
9. Salangai Poojai (Certification) - Salangai poojai is the first staging performance, performed by students who had
learned all the 108 adavus (basic Steps) and 7 basic songs. Basically, for a student to do salangai poojai, it will take
3-4 years, depends on the student’s speed. During Salangai Poojai, prayers is done by placing the salangai in front of Lord Nadarajan to get blessings. The salangai are tied to dancers ankle and live performance is done for the first time on the stage in front of the audience. Once salangai poojai is completed, the dancers exit from beginner stage and proceed to advanced level to prepare themselves for arengetram.
Phusphanjali - In Sanskrit, pushpam means "flower" and anjali means "offering with folded hands". Pushpanjali means offering of flowers with folded hands. It is a song performed by bharathanatyam dancers as an opening item to offer flowers to the Gods and to welcome the audience.
Ganapathi Kavuthuvam - Lord Ganapathi, son of Parvati and Shiva and the remover of obstacles. He has an elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears, and a huge pot-bellied body of a human being. This is a fast-paced invocatory dance where the dancers offers their prayers to the Lord Ganesha and seeks his blessings to make the event success. In a Kauthuvam, chollukattus (rhythmic syllables) are intertwined with the lyrics of the song. Thus it has both nritta (footwork) and abhinaya (expressions) components in its choreography.
Subramanya Kavuthuvam - It is a dance item in praise of Lord Murugan, husband of Valli Deivanai. With the peacock vehicle (mayil vaganan), he helps his devotes in hard time and appears to the devotees’ request to resolve their problems despite of rain, lightning and storm or in any situation.
Natesha Kavuthuvam - This item is performed to offer the prayers to Lord Nadarajan, the dancing God, superior judge of the event. Natesha Kavuthuvam is a very important invocatory item that dancers must perform for the Salangai Poojai to get the rays of blessings from Lord Nadarajan.
Alarippu - Alarippu in tamil means flowering bud, blossoming of body and mind, and is also known as Alarisu. It is an
invocation piece, symbolising the offering of respects to both God and the audience. It is a dance ritual entirely based on
rhythm and is focused on relaxing the body of the dancer, thereby relaxing her mind and symbolizes her awakening. The
alarippu is done in three tempos, first in samabhangi, aremandi, purnamandi, intricate adavus and ends with mukthayas. This nritha item symbolises offering prayer to God, to the stage and solution to preceptors and elders.
Jathiswaram - Jathiswaram is a pure dance presentation, devoid of any abhinaya (emotions), in which, intricate sequences are fused with repetitive musical notes. The dance deals with the execution of adavus (basic steps) and mudras (hand gestures), combined in definite groups. Jathis (rhythmic pieces danced to narrated syllables) are executed combining swara passages (musical scores) in a particular raga and tala.
Thillana - Thillana is A fast and lively dance, which traditionally concludes a Bharathanatyam recital.
9. Salangai Poojai (Certification) - Salangai poojai is the first staging performance, performed by students who had
learned all the 108 adavus (basic Steps) and 7 basic songs. Basically, for a student to do salangai poojai, it will take
3-4 years, depends on the student’s speed. During Salangai Poojai, prayers is done by placing the salangai in front of Lord Nadarajan to get blessings. The salangai are tied to dancers ankle and live performance is done for the first time on the stage in front of the audience. Once salangai poojai is completed, the dancers exit from beginner stage and proceed to advanced level to prepare themselves for arengetram.
Advanced Stage (2-4 years – depends on the students’ speed)1. Advanced Level Songs:
- Shabdam - Padam - Varnam - Javali - Keerthanam - Thodai Mangalam - Kuravanji - Kavadi Sindhu - Advanced Alarippu - Advanced Jatiswaram - Advanced Thillana 2. Arengetram (Certification) |
Teacher’s Training – Intensive Course (1 Year) - Certification1. Dance Choreography
2. Jathis 3. Nattuvangam 4. Make Up 5. Salangai Poojai & Arengetram Event Management |