They hold teak wooden pieces (7 × ¾ inch in size) between their fingers, which produce the sound. In this dance, eight to ten dancers stand in a circle or parallel lines. Chakkai Attam Ĭhakkai Aattam is among the popular folk dances of Tamil Nadu. These shows are very entertaining and hold both adults and children enthralled for many hours. The stories enacted in the puppet shows are from Puranas, epics and folklore. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and the puppets are held in front. They are manipulated through strings or wires. Many different kinds of puppets are used for this show - cloth, wood, leather, etc. Puppet shows are held in every village during festivals and fairs. The performance repertoire of Bharatanatyam, like other classical dances, includes nrita (pure dance), nritya (solo expressive dance) and natya (group dramatic dance). The dance has traditionally been a form of an interpretive narration of mythical legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu texts. The dance is accompanied by music and a singer, and typically her guru is present as the director and conductor of the performance and art. īharatanatyam style is noted for its fixed upper torso, legs bent or knees flexed out combined with spectacular footwork, a sophisticated vocabulary of sign language based on gestures of hands, eyes and face muscles. Bharatanatyam may be the oldest classical dance tradition of India. Traditionally, Bharatanatyam has been a solo dance that was performed exclusively by women, and expressed South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism. A Bharatanatyam performer in Toronto expressing a part of a play with hand and facial gesture, in the dance's distinctive bent leg position.īharatanatyam is a major genre of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu.