Practical Performance, Stage Presentation and Viva
What this domain tests
The practical and viva together check whether body and vocabulary agree: can you hold tala while dancing, present an item with a clean start and finish, and answer short questions without contradicting what you have just performed?
Core rules
- Open with a namaskar and a vandana or salami; announce the tala and laya before starting, since padhant (recitation of bols) is marked alongside the dance.
- Keep sam audible and visible: finish every tode, tukda and tihai exactly on matra 1 in a settled pose, never mid-movement.
- Vilambit tatkar should be steady and quiet-footed; dugun and chaugun must lock to the theka rather than to your own speed.
- Presentation: ghunghroo tied securely, dupatta and costume arranged, composed entry from the wing, gaze to the audience rather than the floor.
- Viva stock answers: define sam, tali, khali, avartan, laya and layakari; identify teental, jhaptal and dadra from their bols; name your gharana, your guru and the items in your repertoire.
Worked example
The examiner asks for teental tatkar in vilambit, then dugun, without stopping the tabla. Reasoning: hold matra 1 in mind, count the four vibhags inwardly, keep vilambit tatkar for one full avartan after the signal, then double the foot-strokes while the tabla stays at the same speed. If you speed the tabla up instead, you have shown tala drift and lose the rhythm marks.
Traps
Choosing an item you cannot finish inside the time limit; answering 'khali is the same as sam'; letting ghunghroo noise stand in for clear bols; contradicting your own performance in viva, for instance claiming Jaipur style immediately after dancing a Lucknow gat-bhav; freezing after a slip instead of rejoining on the next sam.