Indian dancing

THE LANGUAGE OF GESTURES

Though ornaments of genuine worth, such as gold or silver jewellery, may help a great deal, the average dancer has to content himself with cheaper material. Here again illusion plays a part. The Natya Shastra very sensibly lays it down that the ornaments should be light so as not to interfere with the dancer’s movements in any way. Bharata’s dance treatise prescribes certain ornaments for women and others for men. It is interesting to note the costumes prescribed for different roles. Siddhi women must wear yellow robes, with pearls or emeralds as ornaments. Players appearing as apsaras, ot celestial maidens, are exhorted to wear gem-studded ornaments and to dress their hair in a bun crowning the head. Women appearing as gandbarvas (musicians) must flaunt rubies and wear gowns of a vivid red; they must also carry a veena. Vidhyadbaris must be depicted in white with pearls to adorn them. Black robes and blue stones fall to the lot of the women who appear as female rakshas, ot demons. Green drapery and pearls are assigned to characters representing goddesses. Milkmaids are required to don blue costumes and to plait their hair.

Perhaps the earliest forerunner of Western cosmetics was the facial make-up prescribed in the Natya Shastra. Colouring served to differentiate between the characters. Thus Kshafriyas (wattiots) must appear painted in reddish tints, and Vaishyas (merchants) and Swdras (menials) in deeper hues. Spotless white is reserved for Brahmans.

Other aids to illusion are beards and moustaches. But here, too, colour is a distinguishing factor: saints and bhramacharis, i.e. men who refrain from sexual indulgence, wear long white beards; the sensual and the rakish appear in black beards, while kings and gods wear mixed black and white beards.

Make-up and its rules vary with the different schools of Indian dancing, and are dealt with in the chapters describing those schools. One thing, however, is certain —that make-up is no modern invention but a very ancient device. It has, of course, undergone many transformations in the course of centuries.

MUSIC: Since music helps to create the atmosphere for a dance

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