Dance Terminology
Domain 5 is a vocabulary check across languages: Sanskrit terms from the Natyashastra and Abhinaya Darpana, regional terms from each style, and the rasa list. Answers must be exact - 'a bend' will not earn the mark that 'tribhangi' does.
Body and stance
- Anga, pratyanga, upanga - major limbs, minor limbs (shoulder, elbow, knee) and finer parts (eyebrow, eyelid, lip). The Abhinaya Darpana classifies the whole body this way.
- Aramandi - the half-sitting Bharatanatyam stance, knees turned out, spine erect. Muzhumandi - the full sitting position used in thera manam and some adavus.
- Chowka - Odissi's square, knees-out stance associated with Jagannath. Tribhangi - the three bends (hips, torso, neck) giving Odissi its S-curve.
- Sthana/sthiti - stance; chari - moving from place to place; gati - gait; bhramari - spin (chakkar in Kathak); utplavana - jump.
Expression
- Bhava (emotion) becomes rasa (aesthetic relish). Navarasa: shringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta, shanta.
- Sahitya - the lyric the dancer interprets. Sollukattu - Bharatanatyam rhythmic syllables; bol - Kathak rhythmic syllables.
Worked example
'A dancer stands with feet apart and turned out, knees pushed to the sides, hips and chest deflected in opposite directions, head tilted.' Reasoning: the knees-out square base is chowka, but chowka keeps the torso essentially upright. Opposing deflections of hips, chest and neck describe tribhangi. The answer is tribhangi over a chowka base - not aramandi, which belongs to Bharatanatyam.
Traps
Using aramandi for Odissi. Confusing bhramari (the spin) with bhramara (the bee hasta). Listing eight rasas when nine are asked for. Defining 'anga' loosely as 'the body' when the question wants a specific limb category.