The Principles in the Matter
Sreelatha Vinod’s lec-dem as part of the Dance Research Forum on the Principles of Movement in relation to Adavu, was like a process of de-construction; of breaking down the whole into parts and appreciating the many components that coalesce together in creating a sense of beauty. Drawing from her doctoral thesis where she attempted to deep dive into this subject, Sreelatha began her lecture by making a disclaimer that it would not be possible to cover the entire subject and hence she’d chosen a few excerpts from it to help us sratch the surface.
Dividing her lecture into two sections — movement and dance across all cultures and the body as a tool of communication and secondly, Kuthanool, a treatise on the grammar for dance, Sreelatha explained the many types of dances that exist across all cultures in the world. Speaking of dance as the “mother of the arts and one that exists both in space and time”, she talked of fertility dances, lifespan dancers, war or hunting dances, celebration dances and healing dances. Closer to home, we re-jigged our memory on the concepts of line dancing and circle dancing; think of Oliyattam when you think of line dancing and Garba or Kumi when you think of circle dancing.
Breaking down the principles of body and its movement into three parts — physicality of movement and the emotive and societal nature of it, Sreelatha spoke of the three principles that determine the communication of the body — Signifier, Receiver, and the Sign, thereafter.
We also took notes on the importance of hand gestures and the role they have played in communication. “Hands have always preceded language,” she said, “they are reflections of what we feel, our mood and what we experience. No wonder we ring our hands when in despair and open them free when we are at peace.”
Sreelatha also helped differentiate Hastha and Mudra, terms that are often used to denote gestures and that are often used interchangeably but in truth, have different definitions. Hastha, she said, has a sense of auspiciousness about it while Mudra means a seal or a stamp. Equally important in the context of Hastha and Mudras is the role of placement. While Yoga Mudras are often held to stimulate different organs in the body, dancers often hold many hasthas over a fraction of a moment. “Look at the sculptures of deities in the temples; we often see them holding Hasthas whose attributers are symbols of two common motifs — Abhaya (denoting protection) and Varada (granting a boon).”
In the context ofdance, Sreelatha clarified that these gestures are either single-handed or double-handed. From Hasthas, we segued into the idea of Adavus, a fundamental unit in dance and that consists of a posture that involves the striking of the foot or the leg. Adavu also acquires a sense of beauty when embellished by hand gestures that create a sense of movement. In Kuthanool, the single movement of stillness coneys both a sense of the static and the dynamic and is often referred to as Sthiti Gati — “you can think of it as potential energy and kinetic energy,” she said.
Moving into the Kuthanool section, we also understood the importance of metre in the construct of a poem and the concept of the divisions of the body — sole of the foot to the hip, hip to the neck and the neck to the top of the head, thereafter.
This kind of breaking down of the parts triggered both a sense of curiosity and the imperativeness of questioning what we do in terms of our dance. Perhaps when we realise the many aspects that go into creating the aesthetics, the overall effect of it may be enhanced.
