Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Indian mythology and dance
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Indian mythology and dance
The Devadasis of India are the devotees of God. However, society views them from two different perspective –divine and slave. Devadasi who gives her whole life to serve God and do all the holy work related to the temple. Devadasi forced into the role of a denied any desire or voice to speak their mind. Their family decides their future and puts them in temple for rest of their life. The devadasi are treated as object. The women who all are involved in this kind of tradition their personal identity is lost somewhere and they are moving in a single circle. Devadasi in ancient time who served god (Deva), and man who assumed godly status, as a slave and consider it an honor in doing so. The …show more content…
In this Act1 there is conversion between Ratna and Amritlal. Ratna is learning the dance art from Chenni amma .Chenni Amma is a devadasi. In the conversation between Ratna and Amritlal, Ratna says that my adults always told me that speaks with a respect to everyone. I haven’t done anything wrong so why should I suffer. I don’t speak in front of everyone . Chenni Amma is giving dance class in Mysore school . She don’t get anyone between whom she dedicated his all knowledge of art. Chenni Amma doesn’t mind at all being poor and lonely. She is really frustrated with her life in youth she can’t express her art in front of many people .All her childhood spent in training and she serve get a chance to perform her art. When Chenni Amma get to know that I am dancer then she pleaded me to learn her dancing art. Chenni Amma not only want her art of dance to be continued by someone . After that I had start a regular training from
Action which is a fundamental element to dance as it plays a crucial role within a production. For instance, the lady characterised as Lady Jane prances, twists and turns around the stage, joyfully and energetically, to welcome her newly adopted child into her home, clearly eager to teach Mathinna about the colonialized world. However, as evidenced through her gestures to unrecognisable objects in Mathinna’s new room, she connotes to the audiences that while she is elated to teach Mathinna, it is her duty to forcibly integrate her into a white culture. At one point within the scene, Lady Jane turns to the audience, and proudly gestures a confused Mathinna to her new room; suggesting that she is insensitive or emotionally unscathed to the fact that Mathinna was forcibly removed from her home, never to see her family again. Lady Jane shows movements which suggest authority and obligation, whereas Mathinna slugs around disorientated, confused and lost in a seemingly alien culture. Choreographic devices play a vital role in the communication of
In India, the religion of Hinduism in particular, provides two sources of support in regards to the social structure of the era. These sources are the Vedas and the Upanishads. According to The Rig Veda when Purusha’s body was divided “his mouth became the brāhman; his two arms were made into the rajanya; his two thighs the vaishyas; from his two feet the shūdra was born (Reilly, 92).” By splitting up the body in this way, there was a justification for the creation of the varna or caste system. The highest class or Brahmin’s were the priest class, who were also known as the most pure. In this role, they were the connecting figures between Purusha and his people, which is reflective of them being his mouth. The next upper division class was the Ksatriya or warrior/leader class. In the class, the role was to do the fighting which was reflective of them being Purusha’s arms. The artisan/farmer or middle class was known as the vaisyas. In this class, members represented the role of the thighs of Purusha, who were responsible for doing the brunt or tougher jobs in society. The nethermost social class was the sudra, who were serfs and servants. They represented the feet of Pursha, which is reflective of their status as the lowest class. Along with the Vedas, the Upanishads served as a written guideline for the varna. These works urged the concept of doin...
Different Dance Styles by Doris Humphrey and Maud Allen that Presented New Dances that Displayed Innovative Movements.
Ms. Katherine Dunham is known as one of the most influential African American woman who contributed a lot of her style and inspiration to the dance world. “ Katherine Dunham is a dancer, choreographer and educator she is known as the matriarch of black dance.” (Joanna Dee Das) When Dunham participated in dance she established the African-American dance as an art in its own. Katherine was born the youngest child in Chicago to Albert Millard Dunham and Fanny June. Her cultural background included Indian, French Canadian, English, Malagasy and African ancestry. According to Mandell while growing up Dunham was seen as the average African American girl, until her mother passed away in 1913 leaving her mothers family to care for Katherine and her
Katherine Dunham was an important figure in pushing for equality among all races. She became remembered through her unique twist she put on her ballet movements. Instead of pursuing traditional ballet, she choreographed ballets that incorporated African-American movements. Because of this, she has always been referred to as one of the “modern dance pioneers” (Cass 303). Even through struggles, she continued to strive to focus more on the dance traditions of other cultures and slowly help work towards the end of oppression towards particular races.
Before finding out about her biological parents, Asha acts very immaturely and inconsiderately. The first example portraying Asha's unsophisticated behaviour takes place while Asha has a disagreement with her parents because of her poor grades. After her mother offers to helps, she replies, “'I don't need a tutor, and I definitely don't want your help,' Asha says choosing her words to sting her mother'” (Gowda, 150). Here, Asha is deliberately trying to hurt her mother's feelings and is acting very inconsiderately. Also, the fact that she is yelling at her mother, even though her mother is only offering to help, showcases her immaturity.
Traditions control how one talks and interacts with others in one’s environment. In Bengali society, a strict code of conduct is upheld, with dishonor and isolation as a penalty for straying. Family honor is a central part to Bengali culture, and can determine both the financial and social standing of a family. Usha’s family poses no different, each member wearing the traditional dress of their home country, and Usha’s parents diligently imposing those values on their daughter. Those traditions, the very thing her [Usha] life revolved around, were holding her back from her new life as an American. Her mother in particular held those traditions above her. For example, when Aparna makes Usha wear the traditional attire called “shalwar kameez” to Pranab Kaku and Deborah’s Thanksgiving event. Usha feels isolated from Deborah’s family [Americans] due to this saying, “I was furious with my mother for making a scene before we left the house and forcing me to wear a shalwar kameez. I knew they [Deborah’s siblings] assumed, from my clothing, that I had more in common with the other Bengalis than with them” (Lahiri ...
South Asian women engage in patriarchal values and normative structure established more than two thousands years ago, continue to be oppressed by a dominant group of men. These women suffer further oppression through the strict adherence to cultural garb. Still today, media and educational system portray South Asian women as self-sacrificing, faithful to the family, and submissive to men.
The well-known three women Saiva saints are Karaikkal Ammair from Tamilnadu, Akkamahadevi from Karnataka and Lalladevi or Lalded from Kashmir. If the aim of the feminism is to establish equal social identity as well as an individual identity of women, then we have considered that the feminist voice was begun in Indian during medieval period. The three women raised their voice for their place in the sacred world. Before discussing women saint’s view on Identity in the society, there is a need to be known their
The similarities that I observed is that modern dance pioneers placed emphasis on body movements. Martha Graham stated that modern dance is easy, glamorous and delightful. To me is a dance that is difficult to perform even when some of the body movements appeared easy for people do such as arm movement, falling and getting up. Moreover, the differences that I observed were the techniques of movements that each choreographer/pioneer used. For instance Martha Graham technique includes the used coordination, "contraction and release". Duncan for her part used simple gestures. Furthermore, Humphrey created dance entirely without musical accompaniment, she also used imbalance as the base for her movement such as fall and recovery. The modern dance
Even though my Catholic upbringing played a huge role in shaping my identity, it was not my only identity. As Hall states, “We all have multiple identities” (Hall, 107). I am a daughter, sister, niece, cousin, wife, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law, student etc. those are my multiple identities. My Indian heritage also has played an important role in defining the person I am today. The values and beliefs I learned from my parents were taught to them by their parents and passed down from generations and is deeply rooted in my Indian culture. The Indian culture is called a “Collectivist culture” (Josselyn, Mod. 1) where you are taught to place the needs of others before your own. It teaches you values such as to be generous, helpful, dependable, and attentive to the needs of others (Josselyn, Mod 1). Although this culture has its pro’s it also has its con’s. For example, Indian wives are expected to place the needs of their husband and family first, which meant no sharing of household responsibility between the husband and wife, which may have been practical in the older days when women were full time house wives, but in today’s day and age with workingwomen this can quickly result in a burnout and cause detrimental health effects. So despite the good values I learned from my Indian culture and carry with me today and one day pass it on to my children, I do not agree with all the Indian
For Durkheim, religion is an eminently social thing. ‘Religious representations are collective representations which express collective realities’ (Thompson, 1982, p. 125 [excerpt from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life]). This is expressed in Parry’s monograph through multiple examples. For many Hindus, filial duties are of utmost importance. These duties
Prachi, a militant Hindu living in the rural side of India believes that the Hindu life is for her. In a Hindu camp she preaches resistance to Islam, Christianity and western culture. Prachi feels strongly about defending her beliefs and would not hesitate to use violence. In this camp, Prachi and the girls are taught to use firearms and to fight. This training has made Prachi believe that she is capable of killing, and ready to put her life at risk in defense of Hinduism. Her dedication to Hinduism has made Prachi question God’s desire for her. She states, “I'm different from girls, I'm different from boys. My life is not to get married, to produce children. I have the feeling I’ve not been made by God for these things” (Prachi). With this declaration, Prachi reveals a lack of sexual continuum and this leads us to consider that her sexual identity had an impact in her choosing to live her life this way. Being surrounded by so much violence has made Prachi tough and the treatment she receives from her father has made her strong. Her father doesn’t allow her to cry, he believes it shows weakness. He ...
105). There is a single deity, a male, that is at the head of the religion. Women are made to have secondary status as they are made to be less important than men. Women are in the “old-time” religions made to look like temptresses and vixens, that all they want is for men to just give them whatever they want. In these religions, however, men believe that women are their property and that they are theirs and theirs
The Indian culture is an amalgamation of several cultures thus making India a diverse nation offering a myriad of elements relating to the cuisine, the adroitness of its artisans, literature, clothes and glorified architecture. The major forms of classical dances are namely Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Kathakali, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Kuchipudi.