Friday, March 29, 2024
Dance

Mohiniyattam  In Its Present Form

INTRODUCTION PERFORMANCE LITERARY WORKS & DEVELOPMENT PRESENT FORM DRESS & MAKE UP DANCERS

Mohiniyattam is also called the dance of  the Enchantress, because it emphasises the seductive and graceful aspects of women. It is a solo female dance in which the striking feature is the rhythmical swaying of the dancer from side to side and the smooth and unbroken flow of body movement. The dance is focused essentially on feminine moods and emotions.

Mohiniyattam commences with the opening dance called 'Cholkettu'. The danseuse stands with the feet and legs apart, knees bent and spread out and hands raised over the head ( in 'anjali' - a type of Mudra) in salutation. She begins at average tempo, but gradually gains speed with the passage of pure dance sequence leading to the climax. Mohiniyattam The climax contains interchanging expression  and pure dance sequence, to the accompaniment  of vocal and instrumental music. It presents a perfect combination of abhinaya, nritta and nritya to evoke rasa or flavour. The musician sings the poem narrating the theme of divine love and the danseuse interprets it with her skilled footwork, movements of the hands and expressional  face and eyes. It is a dance style specially marked for its grace, fluidity, simple footwork and rotating rhythmic movements. It is also characterized by a graceful and easy rise and fall of the torso without breaking the vertical line of the body. The dancer has to coalesce one movement with the other so that there is no sense of jerk and everything continues smoothly and softly to the accompaniment of cymbals, veena, madala, chenda and obviously the vocal music of the conductors as nattuvanar.