Thatta adavu

The first set of adavus is called thatta adavu. Thattu means "to tap" in tamil as in tapping one's feet or a tap on the shoulder. (Not to be confused with tapping energy). So in this adavu all we do is tap our feet. Quite easily the simplest of the lot, though you may initially feel really tired trying to do the whole set with repititions. For this adavu, like most other you sit in araimandi. Arai means half, mandi means to kneel. So araimandi is a posture in which you are half seated, feet turned outward, close to each other but not touching, hands behind your back. There are seven steps in thatta adavu. I give them below in the following short hand notation R= tap your right foot once, L= tap your left foot once. RR = tap right foot twice without puase. Spaces serve to indicate pause.
Step 1: R L (repeat as you wish)
Step 2: R R L L
Step 3 R R R L L L
Step 4: R R RRR L L LLL
Step 5: R R R RRR L L L LLL
Step 6: R R R L RRR L L L R LLL
Step 7: R L R L R L RLR L R L R L R LRL

as you can see the length of adavus increases with each step. Initially, when you still haven't mastered graceful movements, this might remind you of saani midhikardhu, but don't worry, it will start resembling more of dance soon.

Intro to Bharatanatyam

Bha(va)Ra(ga)Tha(la) Natyam is one of the oldest known dance forms of South India and is one of the seven classical dances of India. The others are Kuchipudi, Mohiniattam, Kathakali, Kathak, Odissi and Manipuri. The origins of Bharathanatyam can be traced back to Sage Bharatha who wrote "Natya Shastra" on which this dance form is based.
The first step in learning this dance form is "thatti kumbidal" which literally means to tap and salute. Every class begins and ends with this step. This is our way of thanking Mother Earth for her support and asking her permission to jump on her during the session.
1. We begin by holding both hands in katka mudra* in front of our chest and standing in samapadha*.
2. Beat the right leg first, then the left. Extend both the hands in shikara mudra* pointing towards the earth.
3. Bring the hands towards your shoulders and extend outwards making a circle while at the same time sitting down.
4. Extend your hands towards the earth with palms outstretched (pushpakoota mudra).
5. Raise your hands to your eyes, briefly touching then and bring them back to the earth.
6. Slowly stand up while raising your hands in a circular motion above your head and making the anjali mudra.
7. Descend the anjali mudra towards your chest.
8. Take both your hands towards your back and place them on the lower back with palms open facing outwards and thumb extended.
9. Tap you right foot.

Eventhough this may sound complicated, it is quite simple to do and you will master it in no time. Anjali has a excellent video on this one here.

Suswaagatham

This blog is an attempt at recording my learnings in my music and dance classes such that it becomes useful for others. I will try and post details about my lessons as well as any pertinent links to it on the day of the class. If you are not into Carnatic music or Bharatanatyam, there's little on this blog that will be useful/interesting to you. Your time may be better spent elsewhere.
The primary purpose of this blog is twofold.
1. Record the classes (notes, steps, related info etc.) so that it maybe useful later on as a reference.
2. Give me something worthwhile to blog about and make this useful for my classmates.
I will try and update this page twice weekly (on Wednesdays and weekends). The primary focus will be on Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam (Tanjore style). I may briefly visit other forms as the need arises. If you have suggestions about what else I could put up please send them my way.

Raagamudra is the name of this blog. It is a combination of two terms

Raaga - This represents the tune of the music. There are hundreds of raagas in the world of music and different raagas have been shown to evoke different emotions. Raaga is the lifeline of Carnatic music and an integral part of bharathanatyam. In fact the ra in bha-ra-tha natyam refers to raaga. bha refers to bhava and tha refers to thala. More in detailed about the carnatic raga system in a later post.

Mudra - Literally means symbol. It is used extensively in bharatanatyam to indicate various objects, emotions, situations etc. Mudras are used in yoga as well and are known to create specific effects when used properly. More in detailed about bharatanatya mudras in a later post.

Together raagamudra means "the symbol of raaga". Dikshitar, one of the sangeetha mummurthis (The music trinity of Carnatic music) uses raaga mudras in a lot of his krithis. This is a technique by which he places the name of the raaga as part of the saahitya without messing up the meaning and some of these require clever manipulations of the language. More about Dikshithar krithis in a later post.

There are a lot of terms in this post that may seem very alien to you but do not worry they will start making sense as soon as I explain more.