Banis of Bharatantyam

Banis of Bharatanatyam
“Bharatanatyam is a generic term used to describe the classical dances that conform to certain conventions of movement, symbolic gesture, posture and choreography.” (Gaston 140) Over the years it has been handled by many different practitioners but it still maintains its original roots. As a result of being handled by many different dancers, the art form has developed many different styles, called Banis, or the various interpretations of Bharatanatyam. According to Anne-Marie Gaston’s book Bharatanatyam from Temple to Theatre there are eighteen different Banis. There are two ways to research about Banis: one way, is to research the practical components of each individual bani. Another way would be to track the hereditary lineages for each Bani. For the purpose of this course, I would be introducing the different hereditary pedigree of each bani starting from the founder and so forth. A few of the Banis are Vazhuvoor, Kalakshetra, and Dandayudapani Pillai.
The Vazhuvoor style was founded by V. Ramaiya (1910-1994). He was brought up in a town near Mayavaram. He studied abhinaya from Madhurantakam Jagadambal, who was one of the many Devadasis who was guided under Samu Nattuvanar. Ramiya was trained in dance by Manika Nattuvanar, the son of Samu Nattuvanar. In a recent performance of Yuva Bharathi, a direct disciple of the Vazhuvoor style, Radha, had many practical differences when compared to another senior disciple of the Vazhuvoor Bani. This shows that even though there are many different Banis, each Bani has a style original to that of the dancer’s likes and dislikes. The same dance in the same bani from the same school can be danced by two people, but still be very different. Every dancer adds his or her style to the bani which is what makes the art form still new and original after many centuries. The Vazhuvoor style involves many graceful postures (the lasya, or the female aspect, dominates over the thandava, or the masculine aspect). In order to break the uniformity of dances, static postures are inserted. The usual margam (a dance repertoire) begins with a Thodaya mangalam of Lord Ganesha Sabesar of Vazhuvoor. The Vazhuvoor Bani remains generally on passing it down from one generation to the next through heredity.
The Kalakshetra style of Bharathanatyam was founded by Rukmini Devi; she initiated the style and made the bani broader. She was trained in vocal music as a child and her dance training began in 1934, starting with, M.D. Gauri, followed by P.S. Minakshisundaram, and finally K. Muthukumar . Smt. Rukmini Devi took several Banis and evolved her own using the elements she thought were the most aesthetically pleasing. The Bani is emphasized on clean Nritta and more Bhakti based rather than Shringaram. She emphasized it on Bhakti when she cleansed out the original form of the Devadasis and derived the shringaram feature from it. Smt. Rukmini Devi Arundale also initiated the Kalakshetra School of Dance. Kalakshetra holds one to six annual productions. These productions are very well known for their in-depth research, flawless technique and refined aesthetics. The music ensemble presents vocal solo and instrumental compositions, as well as group orchestral compositions for voice as well as instruments. The Kalakshtera School of Arts is well known for these productions.
Apart from those two, as a disciple of the Dandayudapani Pillai Bani, named after K.N. Dandayudpani Pillai, I would like to present the different heredity lineages. K. N. Dandayudapani Pillai studied vocal music from his father, Nateshan, at the age of seven. His first exposure to Bharatanatyam was from his Granduncle who was a nattuvanar at the Sani Temple at Tirunallar. He first worked as a vocalist with K. Muthukumar. Afterward, he was hired at Kalakshetra to sing for Bharatanatyam programs. In 1949, he left Kalakshetra to start working independently. At first, he taught the Kalakshetra bani, but later on he started choreographing his own music and lyrics in Tamil. His work was published in a book referred to Aadalisai Amutham. Usha Srinivasan spent a long time with K. N. Dandayudhapani Pillai studying his original compositions. She commented on it saying “It is very fast and attractive…His adavus are clear, vibrant and have a lot of life and movement…He doesn’t give much importance to abhinaya…If I were to go to another nattuvanar he might say – this is wrong, I want you to do it like this. That is because each nattuvanur has his own way.” (Gaston 165) Usha’s testimonial towards the Dandayudapani Pillai bani confirms that it is a firmly instituted as an important constituent of Bharatanatyam.
Two out of the famous Bharatanatyam dancers known world wide are Balasaraswathi and Padma Subramnianm. Balasaraswati began her training in dance from the age of four under Guru Kandappa Pillai. She accomplished many awards during her illustrious dancing career. She has been given the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1955. She was presented upon an honorary doctorate in dance by the Rabindra Bharati University. She is also one of the exponents of the Vazhuvoor style. She trained under Guru Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai and performed her arangetram in 1956. She has received many awards over the years, some of them being: Padma Bushan, Padma Sri, and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
The art of Bharatanatyam has been passed down from many centuries ago starting from the Devadasis. As it was passed down it branched out in to many different styles depending on the interpretations and likes of the dancer. Although the roots are very important to the dance, it is very important to have it branch out. Since every person has different perspectives on each different style, therefore adding a little more of personality, as the years goes by, the additions add up creating a new Bani. “A true dancer is not one who unquestioningly copies her guru’s style but one who evaluates each movement, finds its essence and integrates each movement with a physical and emotional response” (India Today, 30, April 1987)










Work Cited
1. Bharatanatyam from Temple to Theatre by Anne-Marie Gaston
2. http://www.kpoursine.com/balasara.htm
3. Deepa Mahadevan: the artistic director of Tiruchitrambalam school of dance