Bharatanatyam Postures or Positions | Samapadam, Aramandi, Muzhumandi | Natyakriya Episode 02

The three important positions in Bharatanatyam are -

1. Samapada (समपद)
2. Aramandi  or Ardha Mandalam (अर्ध मंडलम् )
3. Muzhu Mandi. (मुलु मण्डी )

A) Samapadam
A Bharatanatyam dancer begins from the samapada position which is a simple position in which the dancer's feet are facing forward, the body is erect - nether too relaxed nor too firm.

B) AraMandi / Arai Mandi / Ardha Mandalam
I'd say this is THE most important posture amongst the three. "Arai" is a Tamil word which means "Half" and "Mandi" means "to sit". Hence, this is a posture of Half-Sitting. Almost every step in Bharatanatyam will involve the dancer sitting in the Aramandi posture.

- In this posture, the dancer's heels are joined together, the toes of both legs pointed to the opposite direction. A straight line should form from one end of the toe to the other end.
- Then, the dancer squats halfway down, making sure to maintain the feet in same position. When the dancer sits this way, a diamond shape will form between the legs which must be maintained at all times for a good Arai mandi.

C) Muzhu Mandi
"Muzhu" {read: Moo-loo - twist up the tongue while saying "Zhu" (Loo)} - means "FULL". In this posture, the dancer sits down completely, maintaining the same feet positions as in Arai Mandi.

- Join hells and point toes to opposite directions
- Sit down on your toes while still making sure the heels are joined (or as close as possible)
- The thighs have to be stretched out in opposite directions and back erect

These are the three important positions in Bharata Natyam.

Bharatanatyam Namaskaram | The traditional way to start a Dance Practice | Natyakriya Episode 01

Namaskaram (नमस्कारं ) is the traditional way to start a dance session. Before and after every dance practice, we do a Namaskar as a way of offering our prayers to the Lord, the audience, our Guru and Mother Earth - for letting us dance on her.

Starting Free Online Dance Classes on YouTube

About a month ago, I started teaching Bharatanatyam to students online. What started as a hobby has become an integral part of my day. With so many people requesting for classes, I found myself short of time to devote to each student personally. Nevertheless, I didn't want to say no to anyone who asked to learn this art.

Hence, I've decided to start uploading free instructional dance videos on YouTube! :-) It may not be like a typical class, but for those who do not want personal coaching and feel they can follow videos and learn, it'll be of great help. Even for those who've learned Bharatanatyam before, my videos can prove to be a great revising/practicing tool for you.

Please make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to get updates whenever I upload a new video. :-) The videos will be short and to the point, demonstrating series of Bharatanatyam steps in Kalakshetra style and other exercises, hand gestures etc. that I've learned from my Guru.

Introducing Forums on Natyakriya

Greetings,

I wanted to take a moment to let y'all know that I've added a new section to this website - The FORUMS.

This will facilitate discussions on topics related to Bharatanatyam, Carnatic Music, Classical Dances, Shlokams, our Indian culture and many more with me and other like minded people! Please register with your email ID and start posting your questions/ideas/opinions there so that all of us can view/reply.

Looking forward to having lively discussions with all of you. :-)

Thanks!