The Weekly Grind: BN

This post is a little late so sorry about that!

Welcome to the second instalment of The Weekly Grind: Bharatanatyam, my weekly post on my BN class.

So this week started with Ganesha Vandanam which I'm glad to say is finally starting to become muscle memory! I think one of the reasons I like this piece so much is because it was my first nritya piece, the first time I got to use abhinaya. It's so simple yet so beautiful. The bit I also feel I am weak at is the very last posture in araimandi, because after having been stamping in araimandi for a lot of the piece it's incredibly hard to suddenly stand still and hold the perfect araimandi for a few seconds. My Guru often says we should just start watching TV in araimandi so we get used to it... I might just have to try that some time soon!

Pain was soon to follow in the form of the Alarippu. I find it amazing that the Alarippu is one of the first pieces a dancer learns and yet it requires so much strength. I still haven't managed to get through the whole piece without realising one of my arms has gone down and there is this one adavu that is relatively near the end that I can do well by itself but in the midst of the Alarippu it always crumbles, so I shall have to work on that. Again I really love the simply beauty of the Alarippu, and I could listen to the music all day! I just have to improve my balance and stamina to get it perfect.

If my memory isn't failing we did the Thodayam too, the one dance I actually do know very well! I still think there are perfections to be done though, as always with a classical art. I really must implement the Natya Kramaha Sloka I think because my eyes are certainly not following my hands throughout this piece. This was followed by the Mooshika Vahana about 4 times, I have still not got through this once without getting something wrong, but I did get Ganesha right this time so woooo, progress is happening!

Now onto the latest addition to our repertoire: the Mallari. We haven't quite finished learning this piece yet and although I absolutely love it, my stamina is absolutely pathetic. I really struggle towards the end, which just so happens to be when is gets faster! In a bid to keep up with the speed my footwork goes haywire too which is clearly not a good thing and there are a few adavus I still can't manage to get right, practice I believe is the only solution here. Despite all of the difficulties I do really love the nuances of the Mallari, which acts as fantastic motivation.

I shall conclude this week's BN Weekly Grind with a quote:
“What is reflected in our dance is not religiosity but spirituality, which has a much wider and universal connotation. It has much to do with harmony and the idea of bringing peace to troubled minds and souls.” - Alarmel Valli