August 18th 1:30pm – 2:30pm

Odyssey Stage

In collaboration with Rathi School of Dance, performers will delight audiences with a dynamic and captivating performance of epic tales of Indian legend through Bharatanatyam, the oldest classical Indian Dance form. This performance will be peppered with on-your-feet instruction from Dance leaders who will share and teach how Bharatanatyam interprets old tales into lasting performances.

India has a continuous art and culture that goes back thousands of years.  Among the arts, Music, Dance, Painting and Sculpture are the most prominent ones.  They are also considered to be interdependent.   Dancing has been the most appealing and yet the most difficult of the fine arts.  It is like language, a medium for the expression of ideas and sentiments.  In the domain of dance, there are a variety of schools, Bharata Natyam being one of the oldest traditional styles.  Bharata Natyam has had an uninterrupted patronage through thousands of years.  

 Bharatha Natyam is inseparable from Hindu mythology and is for the large part devotional and spiritual in character.  According to Indian Mythology, Lord Shiva is part of the Trinity of supreme gods.  Lord Shiva – also known as Nataraja, the king of dance –  is identified with the periodic creation, sustenance and destruction of the manifest universe. 

Drawing his inspiration from Nataraja’s cosmic dance, the famous Sage Bharatha codified the basis for dancing and other fine arts in a text called Natya Shastra, which serves as a guide to every artist.

The dance  is based primarily on melody and rhythm.  Generally, Bharatha Natyam is danced to the Karnatic Style of Indian Classical music.   Each dance item portrays a story or a concept and the dancer conveys these stories through dance to the audience.

Bharatha Natyam consists of Nritta and Abhinaya.  Nritta is pure dance and conveys no meaning.  Abhinaya is facial expressions combined with hand gestures.   Any lyrics can be interpreted through the Nritta and Abhinaya.  

There are many different schools or Bani that teach this art form, Pandanallur is one of them.  The Banis were named after the village it originated from.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rathi School of Dance

Rathi School of Dance is dedicated to producing, developing and presenting the classical Indian dance form – Bharata Natyam in the Pandanallur style.   Rathi school was founded in 1980 by Artistic Director Sheela Chandrashekar, acclaimed for her excellence in Bharatha Natyam as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. The school was founded with the vision to propagate this art form to the future generations of Canadians. The school is deeply committed to teaching, practise and performance of this art form. 

Sheela’s mandate is to nurture the authentic traditions of classical Bharata Natyam and produce performers, choreographers and teachers who will preserve and create traditional and contemporary works in this style.

Sheela is the creative force at Rathi School of Dance and has carved out a niche for its work of solo and group choreography.