How do I Communicate Sringara Rasa (the Emotion Love) Through Pulaneri Vazhakku (Mode of ‘Sensing’)? Experimental Research Study, Practice-Based

Abstract

Bharathanatyam is practiced for the purpose of experiencing aesthetic pleasure by the actor, dancer and spectator (Rao, 1997). According to ancient treatises such as the Natya Sastra, dancing should be experiential, sensorial and pleasurable. When dance is transmitted, do these core values of the practice get lost? How can we heighten sensorial ranges through the facilitation of a shift in the transmission and dissemination of learning the component Rasa (emotion)? Some of the problems present in the current landscape of learning Bharathantayam is problematic due to the codification of the traditional form and the authoritarian style rooted in its pedagogy. This has left many students feeling incompetent and as a consequence, made the form unattainable. The purpose of my intervention is to make the learning of Sringara Rasa (the emotion of love) a component in the Bharathanatyam curriculum, accessible to all levels of dancers. I hope to achieve this through a sequential model that interrogates cognitive activities present in the engagement of a role or character performing the emotion. My intervention aims at reexamining the theory and practice of Padams (poetic texts) rooted in the Sringara Rasa (emotion of love) and bridging the gaps in learning this component. When dancers introspect, it allows them to access the sensorial dimension of Bharathanatyam.