36 ms·
This was a fascinating read. And this information about Indian dance gestures should not be seen separately from ancient Indian languages like Sanskrit. If you
by truth_ 5y ago
This was a fascinating read. And this information about Indian dance gestures should not be seen separately from ancient Indian languages like Sanskrit.
If you are wondering how a gesture can mean multiple things, then I must tell you it all depends on the context. And truly master dancers and composers know how to tell two or more stories with one dance!
I regularly read something called "Vaishnava Padavali" which are ancient Bengali poems about Krishna and Chaitanya, but at the same time they convey very deeper meanings.
And it is not like metaphors in other languages, where one meaning is "hidden", the second (or third) meaning hides in plain sight.
If you interpret the meaning of a word in one way, you get one meaning, and if you do it another way, you get another. And you can string together multiple storylines and messages from one piece of text.
Let me give you an example- "Varshaa" in Sanskrit means monsoon. And "Varsho" means a year- it means the amount of time in which there is one monsoon. And again, "Varsho" are also mountains where clouds collapse to and brings monsoon. So, depending on the context (or multiple), "Varsho" could either mean a mountain or a year.
A man took it up a notch- Sandhyakar Nandi, who wrote a whole epic, which is a retelling of the Epic Ramayana on one interpretation, but is the life of Pala Emperor Ramapal on other.
In the same way, dance gestures can mean multiple things based on your interpretation. And different interpretations run parallely, together.
Sanskrit is a language with metaphors built-in in the language.
The entry barrier is extremely high, but Sanskrit poems, plays, and epics are one of the most profoundly intellectually stimulating pieces of text in the world.
- oretoz 5y agoVery interesting indeed. You seem to know about this. Do you have any links where I can find more details (which is not easily Googleable?
- truth_ 5y agoIf you ask me about literature, I can tell you more. I am not an expert in Dance. I just happen to be a half-educated connoisseur. If you ask more about the Sanskrit language and literature, I will try to answer. And also I am irreligious. No relation to Hinduism or other religion. Sanskrit is an intellectual curiousity.
- hzay 5y ago> And truly master dancers and composers know how to tell two or more stories with one dance! Lol what? Can you please name a dancer who can do this mysterious thing? Ps - indian classical dancer here
- truth_ 5y agoYou can clearly see this in the Dances of Udaya Shankara. I also remember attending a few Rabindra Sangeet dance ceremonies from the Mamata Shankar's dance group which were filled with this kinds of metaphors. And just because you are an Indian classical dancer, does not make you the authority on it. Everybody on HN is a programmer, but not everyone's talent, expertise, and knowledge are same. Have you studied about dance theoretically? Or the books mentioned in the post? Do you hold a M. Muse or PhD in dance? Or did you just enroll yourself in one of hundreds of dance school available in every neighbourhood of India's cities and small towns? > Lol what? You don't seem to know much about dance. A coder making buttons bigger or changing background colors with CSS is not an expert in all things programming. Just because you are "Indian classical dancer here", you are not an authority.