Welcome to my new blog on Bharatanatyam (sweetly, shortly Natya).
In olden days (before Indian Independence), this dance was practised only by girls dedicated to perform before the kings. Later, people from society’s high class were allowed to learn it. Dr. Rukmani Devi Arundale was the person to introduce this dance as an art form to everybody. She started learning dance at the age of 35. She is the founder of Kalakshetra(Kala-ART; shetra-PLACE).
In ancient times, Bharatanatyam was called as Natya, which means “dance”. Indeed, it was Dr. Rukmani Devi who coined the name Bharatanatyam (bha-BHAVAM; ra-RAGAM; tha-THALAM). But they also say that the name was coined from Sage Bharata Muni who is the Author of the NatyaSastra.
