Learn the Lingo
Photo: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar
Mono-act Nangiar Koothu performed by Aditi Gopalakrishnan is a typical example of ekaharya abhinaya.
Dance
Ekaharya abhinaya: This is the Sanskrit term that defines the approach to acting or storytelling in solo dance. Literally, it means abhinaya (mime or acting) that is done while maintaining just one (eka) costume (aharya). Thus, ekaharya abhinaya is distinct from the kind of acting required when different actors or dancers take up individual roles in a stage production.
For example, episodes from Krishna’s life with the cowherds and milkmaids of Vrindavan form a favourite theme in classical stage productions. These are sometimes presented in the form of a dance drama, where a dancer is assigned the role of Krishna, others represent his friends, yet others play the milkmaids, and so on. Such a production can, if the choreographer so wishes, be presented using an undiluted dance technique, say, Bharatanatyam or Kathak or any other.
However, the same story can be told by a single dancer in the course of one dance piece. (This could be a kirtanam or an ashtapadi in Bharatanatyam, or a thumri in Kathak, for example.) In this case, the solo dancer takes on all the roles. The dancer is by turns Krishna, the various milkmaids, the cowherd friends, and also the narrator, as and when required. This requires concentration on the part of the dancer, to represent the various characters and maintain the thread of the story without confusion. Besides concentration, the dancer has access to certain conventions — say, a small pirouette every time the dancer changes character, or a musical cue.
Music
Jod, jhala: The terms jod (also written jor) and jhala belong to Hindustani music. They are parts of the elaboration of a raga. When a musician starts a traditional concert, the
chosen raga is introduced with a slow, meditative portion known as the alap (defined in Learn the Lingo of 2 March, 2007). Next, the instrumentalist goes into the jod portion. In the jod, the pace
of the music increases gradually. In the jhala, for which stringed instruments are best known, the strings are strummed with great speed. The music, which had begun in a ponderous, exploratory way, not bound by a set tala, acquires a
strong intrinsic rhythm, besides speed and volume. Technically the jod and jhala are considered part of the alap, and often the three portions are named in one breath — ‘alap-jod-jhala’.
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