The Angik abhinaya portray actions and reflect emotions through
movements of the three different parts of the body.
(a) Anga or major portions, including the hands, legs, head, hips and chest .
(b) Pratyanga or intermediate parts such as the neck, shoulders, back, stomach,
elbows, thighs, knees and ankles.
(c) Upanga or minor portions such as the lips, the mouth, the teeth, the tongue,
the nose, the cheeks, and the eyes.
The movements of these various parts are correlated.
There are three subdivisions of the angik abhinaya. They are
(1) Ankur movements that include the rechaka (movements ) of the head, the dristi
or glances of the eyes, the movement of the eye brows
and the eyelids, the addiyam of the neck, the rechaka of the
cheeks, the chin, the lips, the face or movements of any of the
intermediary parts of the body such as the shoulders, the waist or the stomach.
Positions of the feet are also included here.
(2)Nritta, or standardized movements and poses as the various
postures for deities to suggest meditation or spiritual calm.
There are the the brahmani or spiral movements, the utplavana or
leaping movements and the chari and gati or gait movements.
(3) Shakha or hand movements.
Hasta mudra or gestures of the hands play a very important part in
Indian dancing. They symbolize either an emotion, mood or a
some object or an animal or a person. The two most important varieties
are
(a) Asamyukta
or single -hand gestures
(b) Samyukta
or double hand gestures
