Bharatanatyam

“In Bharatanatyam, the form is but the foundation on which the creative dancer builds structures, both in time and space, drawing from her individual experience of music, movement and life. Every song or poem therefore, is re-created by the dancer, becoming her personal statement. Unlike a completed painting, the dance grows and changes and is re-interpreted with every presentation.“
— Smt. Alarmel Valli

The Indian dance system is the oldest and most comprehensive in the world, and Bharatanatyam is amongst the oldest of its classical forms. With a history that goes back more than 2,000 years, Bharatanatyam has come down through the centuries, originating in the ancient temples of South India. Integrating elements of music, theater, poetry, sculpture, and literature, this multi-dimensional art is part of a dynamic living tradition that offers an infinite scope for understanding and exploring the body, mind, and spirit.

The seven dancers of Ragamala are trained in Alarmel Valli’s style of Bharatanatyam, which is distinguished by its emphasis on linear geometry and structure, complexity of rhythm, and the subtlety and depth of expression.

Although Bharatanatyam has a structured vocabulary, this vocabulary does not restrict, but instead offers the use of a highly stylized language from which the choreographer can draw and expand. In this incredibly complex percussive form, the choreographer not only creates the movement but also the rhythmic structures. This, coupled with the beauty, vitality, and stunning physicality of the style, makes Bharatanatyam the perfect canvas on which to create timeless compositions of elegant abstraction.