learn the lingo
Photo: K.N. Muralidharan
Nattuvangam C.V. Chandrasekhar conducting a dance orchestra.
Dance
Nattuvangam: Often translated as ‘conducting’, nattuvangam is the art of using cymbals to mark out the rhythmic patterns of a dance performance. It is associated primarily with Bharatanatyam but also with other dance forms
of South India. The person who does the nattuvangam is known as the nattuvanar. The nattuvanar not only continuously provides the basic rhythm for the dancer, but also at times combines this with vocal recitation of the syllables. Traditionally, the nattuvanars were the experts in dance who taught women dancers.
The nattuvanar is thus considered the leader of the dance orchestra. Legendary accounts of Jayadeva, the writer of the 12th Century epic poem Gita Govinda, describe him as playing the cymbals and singing while his wife Padmavati danced to his poems on Krishna and Radha. In the Gita Govinda, Jayadeva significantly refers to himself as the “emperor who rules over Padmavati’s feet” (Padmavati charana chaarana chakravarti).
Music
Tani avartanam: This refers to that portion of a Carnatic music concert in which the mridangam player performs a percussion solo. The percussion solo usually comes at the end of the main piece of the concert. Thus, it marks the mid-poi
nt of the show. The main piece is the music composition that the lead artiste (the singer or the main instrumentalist) has decided to elaborate at length. After presenting the alap, the lyrics, and improvised swara patterns, the singer leaves the mridangam player to improvise rhythmic patterns within the set tala. The main percussion instrument to accompany a Carnatic music recital is the mridangam. In addition, there may be a ghatam, a kanjira or a morshunk, or any combination of these.
If there is more than one percussionist, they all participate in the tani avartanam.
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