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Dances of India
The Song and Science
of Dance
by Rajgopal Nidamboor
Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the
arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life; it
is life itself. — Havelock Ellis, The Dance of Life
Dance, be it
Eastern, Western, or any genre — from Mumbai to Chicago, and London to
Cape Town — is a delicate form of mind-body energetic, or gymnastics. It
is, like its sporting corollary, emotion in motion — the difference
being of degree. Which explains why a dancer has to apply a torque, or
twisting force — to ‘mind’ the body, and ‘bend’ the mind, as it were.
And, once a
dancer is ‘in the zone,’ a la the athletic sensitivity, or what noted
psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls the ‘flow,’ there’s no need
to apply the twisting force. Or, so you thought? Maybe; maybe, not. But,
better be careful! Because, if you — more so, for a dancer — begin
twisting from the ground-up, clutching your lower extremities together
while raising your arms, you’ll do a rapid full-scale turn — or, what
maybe called aerobic exercise!
 Now,
to the basic premise of this write-up. Science can, quite simply, help a
dancer understand why bringing one’s physical and emotional constructs
together will let one complete a grand step, or the Indian mudra.
Agreed that torque may not always be a case in point. More so, because a
dancer’s angular momentum is his/her rate of movement multiplied by
his/her ‘flash’ of inertia, which depends on how his/her mass is
distributed around his/her dance, or mudra, axis. And, if his/her
momentum remains the same, but s/he reduces her inertia, s/he must move
faster. That’s, again, science. Or, more precisely — physics.
Another classic move is the nritya, in Sanskrit, or the
straightforward gazelle-like leap in Western dance. You have a
‘hang-time’ once you are through with it. Also, as the dancer leaves the
floor, s/he's like a nuclear missile: his/her centre of gravity follows
a fixed parabola. S/he can't change it, but s/he can move parts of
his/her body. And, when s/he also clippers his/her feet open as s/he
nears the top of the arc, s/he makes them take up most of his/her centre
of gravity's vertical motion. Which gives the audience an impression
that s/he’s floating in the air!
Not only that. The upkeep of angular momentum is also, perhaps, the most
important physical principle in dance. However, there’s more to dance
than intensity, or sensitivity, which is best expressed in the East’s
most traditional idiom — abhinaya.
This is not all. What’s more, a dancer’s lower axis, including the
limbs, legs and feet, has what’s called the storing momentum. During
each pause, the dancer regains momentum by coming down off point and
pushing again with his/her whole supporting foot. Also, s/he saves some
momentum from one clip to the next. And, to store momentum, s/he hustles
it straight out, far from his/her expressive axis, as s/he faces the
camera, or audience — to transfer momentum back to his/her body. The
whole thing’s subtly fluid, also physically sensible, beautiful and
economical. In other words, it’s pure nectar — in expression and form.
There’s also, of course, the preservation of angular momentum with
dance, as already cited. Hence, to execute the full turn a dancer has to
bring his/her feet in line with his/her torso — and, then hold them
there. And, when a dancer goes into the ‘seventh heaven’ of his/her
recital, s/he feels like being ‘up in the air,’ as cited elsewhere, what
with his/her feet and arms dictating their own essence of movement in
the alignment of rotation.
It’s magic to the dancer, you, me, and everybody around. It’s also
science — at its artistic best.
April 16,
2006
Top |
Dances of India
The Week of April 16, 2006
Choice Before China : Dalai Lama Tests Beijing's
Credentials by Rajinder Puri
Oh God, I wish to be Sonia ... by Usha Kakkar
India MUST NOT Lose Nepal to the Maoists by
Dr. Subhash Kapila
Will the US Strike against Iran? by B. Raman
Antulay's Proclamation for Vicious Vivisection of
India by V. Sundaram
Earthquakes Threaten Obelisks of Culture by
VK Joshi
Leaders Must Set the Example so Others will
Follow by William C. Gladish
The Song and Science of Dance by Rajgopal
Nidamboor
Misuse of Myths by Foolish Fundamentalists by
Gaurang Bhatt, MD
Is there an Alternative for the Wars of the
World? by TA Ramesh
Next Stop Iran! by Usha Kakkar
When Bangalore Burnt! by Garima Gupta
Some Vastu Questions by Niranjan Babu Bangalore
A Humble Indian's Grand Vision for India by
Aruni Mukherjee
Global Search for Software Patents by M.
Qaiser & P. Mohan Chandran
VoIP : Technology to Cut
Phone Bills by Ruchi Gupta
Irom Sharmila, a Living Icon of Liberty-Famished
Indians by Marc-Olivier Parlatano
Call for Papers: Development Studies (Volume 2)
edited by Dr. Presenjit Maiti
Film Making as a Career by Pallavi
Bhattacharya
The Strange Case of Homeopathy by Dr. Muneeb
Faraaz
Silicosis – A 'Dusty' Tale in Rajasthan
by Deepak Malik
Meditation and Beauty by Sugandha Indulkar
Parents are People Too! by Garima
Gupta
Damned if I do, damned if I don't by Monisha Sen
Biking to Work by Subra Narayan
Poster Women by Deepti Priya Mehrotra
Chainsaw-Wielding Women by Stephanie Hiller
Mothers Sued, Docs go Free by Sreelatha Menon
The Right Name: Child Rights and You by Smita
Jain
100-Day Schools by Vinita Deshmukh
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