[sarav]

Note from the moderator: The following is an outline of the points involved in the teaching of Bharata Natya outside India. It was distributed to the participants of the Summer Residency Course in 2003. Please feel free to comment on any of the points mentionned below.

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Defining choreography
Usage of the word in the context of dance originated in the west.
Is there a difference between composition and choreography?

Redfern:
"… it unfortunately often seems to be assumed that because we have a body and because this is a channel of spontaneous natural expression, a ready source of dance is at hand , and one just has only to switch on and tap this supply."

H’Doubler (she) says
"... we do not say a joyous running and leaping against the wind is art, it is expressive but not an expression of art. However if we take the leaps and runs and various reactions to the feel of the wind and mould them according too the priciples of artistic composition, we at once achieve art."

Redfern:
"…when concern is not simply with delight in bodily movement but with a formulated whole, a structured ‘something’so that the relationship and coherence of the constituent parts becomes of increasing interest and importance."

Elements required in making dance

- The material elements - concept, ideas, source, stimulus, text, music.
- Understanding of the style and language of the dance form in which it is being composed e.g. Ballet, Bharata Natya.
- A convention or method of structuring and construction.

Mettler:
"Art is the shaping of some material to provide aesthetic experience.
The theory of Rasa."

Choreography in the context of Bharata Natya

- The traditional repertoire and the solo format.
- Group formations (Pindis of the Natya Shastra).
- Dance-drama and theatrical presentations of more recent origins (popularized by Rukmini Devi Arundale of Kalakshetra)
- Group choreography and the Kala Bharati experience.

Evolution of choreography
Impetus for evolutions in choreography comes from

- Circumstances and the period in which the work is being created.
- Available resources.
- Influences from other cultures.
- Creativity and individual urges.

Trends in evolution

- Group presentations within the tradition.
- Exploring time and space.
- Contemporary themes and treatments.
- Fusion of movements from other dances and art forms
- Music inspired explorations.
- Deconstruction/reconstruction.

Points to ponder

- Pressure to innovate.
- Encouraging innovation: strengths and limitations
- What are the parameters by which to define the boundaries.

[Dan]

[nandita]

There's a Heraclitean (i.e. Greek,
hence Indo-European) "ouroboros"
in Dan's definition of Dance, since
'arche', as Dan points out, is
the beginning, and 'techne',
I would add, is the techno-cultural
culmination.

The beginning and the end
qua culmination "conjoin" in
Dance: that comingling of
the arche and the techne,
the archon and the techton.
Heraclitus would call this an
'enantiodromia': a running
(or rather, a dancing) of one thing
into its opposite.

The union opposites:
how wonderfully
alchemical!
A veritable
<<alcheminement>>.

[nandan]

[Rutvi]

I thought it was very strong and memorable. It was very much as if the dancer was in the battlefield. It felt very different compared to Bharata Natyam dance. It had more emotion and the steps and movements were very different then what I always see and hear about. I hope that you like the dance as much as me.