File:Classicals Dances.jpg

==The immortal dance recital of Mahisasuramardini  == The immortal dance recital of Mahisasuramardini composed by godly Nandiswara in the prominent dance styles of Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kathakali and Kuchipudi to give you a glimpse of Natya Sastra performing by female dancers. 

Mahisasuramardini is of 20 Charana. The Charanas and one to eight recited with majestic Raga Revathi followed by other Ragas to describe the Goddess in “Raudra Bhuvam” as a Fighter of Evil. Similarly 9 to 12 Charana are recited with majestic Raga Bihag is to celebrate the Goddess in her bountiful beauty as the one who restores balance and peace in the Universe and finally 13 to 20 Charana are recited with Raga Charukeshi to describe her soft, gentle and feminine aspects.

A single female dancer emerges from the darkness of the stage. Her presence is immediately captivating, the air suddenly fragrant with her appearance. Adorned in jewels from head to toe, radiant in a special red and gold sari, her long dark hair crowned in jasmine, she is the embodiment of the divine feminine, mirroring the images of goddess Parvati  one sees everywhere in India. She begins her dance with an offering: With her hands in Namaste (Anjali Mudra), she dances her way to the altar to release a river of flowers over the golden image of Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance. The rhythm begins. “ Ta ka dhi mi taka dhe ,” a singer chants to the beat of a two-sided drum. Her dance unfolds from that moment in a spiral of complex movements driven by rhythmic foot patterns, precise hand gestures, and facial expressions arrested in sculpted postures in which time stops for a moment before the rhythm begins again.

Enjoy  the grace of every expression and the pure stamina of her dance, which builds and releases through movement and stillness until, in a final crescendo of rhythmic fire. It ends in the stance of Shiva as Nataraja: her left leg crossed in front of her and extended to her right, as is her graceful left arm, while the right hand forms the Abhaya Mudra, which says, “Have no fear.”

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Lalita_sm.JPG

<span style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nandini_Ghosal.jpg

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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;text-indent:.5in"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kuchipudi_Dance_Uma_Muralikrishna.jpg

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;text-indent:.5in"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family:'TimesNewRoman',serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-attachment:initial;background-size:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;background-position:initial;background-repeat:initial;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kathakalidancer.jpg

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