A stylized movement of the body
What first strikes the eye is the dance's rhythm. It is a rhythm that we could qualify as strange, far removed from the more familiar European and African dances. Any dance has by definition an inherent rhythm, but here the whole dance is built around the rhythm. African dance can also be very rhythmic, but the rhythm is less geometric, more human. The rhythm of Indian dance appears as non-human.
We can directly recognize Indian dance among other dance traditions because it is a very stylized movement of the body. Its first purpose is a visual one : the gestures are very artistic and pleasant to see. Gestures, costume and ornaments are all there to please the eye. While costume and ornament are only accessories, movement reaches to beyond the watcher's eye and marks its rhythm on his perception. Indian dance is audience-oriented. Whether human or supernatural, visible or invisible, the audience is in delight. Each successive gesture of the dancer is a surprise to the eye. In front of the dancer, we can be in constant astonishment, almost in hypnotic fascination.
Indian dance doesn't make use of the body's natural gestures. All gestures are completely transformed. It is a new language to learn, a technical and esthetical system to memorize. The dance doesn't reproduce the body's ordinary, everyday gestures. This is an allusion to the dance's setting : it has a ritual, supernatural and divine dimension. It is differentiated from banal activities. Even when a domestic gesture is reproduced, when depicting a scene, it is executed in a stylized way, integrated into the dance's rhythm and esthetic quality. Walking and other such common actions are very different from their danced equivalents. Indian dance never gives realistic portraits.
| Like in hatha-yoga, another Indian codified physical training, bodily mastery is significant. In the dance, it is mainly a matter of controlling motion. In everyday life, moving an arm or raising a leg is a trivial gesture, but in Indian dance it has a meaning and the gesture's kinetics will tell how well the dancer masters his movements. The dancer has to relearn moving each muscle in a completely new way. Years of training will be useless without understanding this basic principle of motion control.
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Raised leg
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