Indian classical dances

This Navratri we takes a journey into learning about the different forms of indian classical dances from the professionals themselves.

Thanks to these ladies for doing these dances in Saris Only for DemureDrapes

Classical Indian dances play an influential role in many other realms of art including poetry, sculpture, architecture, literature, music and theater. Hithaishy Dhanan performing kuchipudi dance in a sari, only for Demure Drapes...

KUCHIPUDI 

Kuchipudi, a pre-eminent Indian classical dance form counted among ten leading classical dance forms of India, is a dance-drama performance art that originated in a village of Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, India.

This ancient dance form finds place in the 10th century copper inscriptions and in 15th century texts like ‘Machupalli Kaifat’. Traditionally it is regarded that the sanyassin of Advaita Vedanta sect, Tirtha Narayana Yati, and his disciple Siddhendra Yogi initiated, methodized and arranged the present day version of the dance form in 17th century.

Usually performance repertoire of Kuchipudi that is broadly oriented on Lord Krishna and the tradition of Vaishnavism include an invocation, dharavu – short dance, nritta – pure dance and nritya – expressive dance respectively.

Thank you Hithaishy Dhanan for recording this video just for this platform. 

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1361418700622022/

MOHINIYATTAM 

An endeavour by Demure Drapes to divulge deeper into the indian culture. Indian classical dances act as a window..

Come join us this Navratri as we traverse and explore the various forms of Indian Classical dances, with the professionals themselves..

Mohiniyattam with Shibolin Gangadharan...

Mohiniattam is one of the most lyrical classical dance forms of India. It is Kerala’s version of the soft, lasya style dance. Mohiniattam is characterised by the gentleness of its style, by the gliding movements of the body...

Mohiniattam was first mentioned in literary sources in 1709. A performance starts with a prayer and then follows an abstract invocation dance, alarippu. After that follow various numbers such as the demanding jatisvaram, usually the highlight of the performance....

Enjoy this performance by Shibolin, as she dances in her sari only for DemureDrapes

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1362323607198198/

MANIPURI 

This Navratri Demure Drapes takes you on a journey, giving insight to classical indian dance. 

Today Bhani Devi brings to us Manipuri dance, she has done specially for DemureDrapes.

Bhani thanks so much for taking time out for doing this for everyone at DemureDrapes...

Soniaponnamma Devaiah thanks once again for this segment to happen..

According to traditions Manipuri people are the the Gandharvas in the Vedic texts. The Vedic Usha, the goddess of the dawn, created and taught the art of feminine dance to girls. Manipuri Dance is called Jagoi in a major Meitei language of the region and it traces a long tradition in Manipur. 

The first dated written texts describing the art of Manipuri dance are from the early 18th-century. 

The Manipuri dance is a team performance, with its own unique costumes, aesthetics, conventions and repertoire. The Manipuri dance drama is, for most part, marked by a performance that is graceful, fluid, sinuous with greater emphasis on hand and upper body gestures. It is accompanied with devotional music created with many instruments. 

Manipuri dance is a religious art and its aim is the expression of spiritual values.

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1363329487097610/

BHARATNATYAM 

There is nothing 

As hypnotic as a well versed dance

Each step is so perfect

Mudras that leave one entranced

Every movement of the eyes 

Is telling us a different story 

With not a word from her lips

Interpretation of history 

Dance of life.....

BharatNatyam brought closer to us by none other than Soniaponnamma Devaiah. 

See the great Dancer in action and be enthralled by the beauty of her moves and poise. NavNari 5...

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1364831020280790/

KATHAKALI

Using thousand years old sign language for expressing....

Kathakali is the classical art form of Kerala. The word “Katha” in Malayalam means story and “kali” is play. So as the name depicts Kathakali is an art that plays a story. In this the dialogues are prescribed texts which are sung by 2 trained singers. The actors enact the dialogue through Mudras and Abhinaya. The actors are supported by 2 percussions- Chenda and Maddalam.

There were two the immediate older version of Kathakali- Ramanattom & Krishnanattam . Ramanattom depicts the stories of Rama and Krishanattom depicts the stories of Krishna. During Guruvayoor Sri Krishna Temple. Once the Thampuran of Kottarakara invited the Krishnattam troupe to perform in his court .But the then ruler of Guruvayoor rejected the invitation. KottarakaraThampuran took this as a challenge and restructured & staged Ramanattom, which later developed to the present day Kathakali. 

Please enjoy a very rare spectacle..

Kathakali in a sari, just for DemureDrapes. 

Thanks to our NavNari 6 Aarcha Gowri Varma!

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1365571356873423/

A to Z of Saris

https://www.facebook.com/demuredrapes/videos/1089609987802896/

Saris starting with letter A

Ajrakh Saris

Pokemon Go! my latest craze

Addiction! How long does it take one to get addicted to something? It took me just 10 minutes and I knew this is so me. Wel the word has been go go GO! since Sunday morning in my mind. Singapore released it on Saturday, I got mine on Sunday and since then I have walked the city crazy.
Previously I would shop for groceries every monday morning, come home straight from the mall to go out for lunch. But the change, after safely depositing my groceries in my boot, I started walking. Walked the entire mall in search of them!!! What a morning it turned out to be. Lunch was spent 'luring' more with 'incenses'.

My language for the past two days has been in XP, CP and HP. The food I would love is just 'Candy' and 'Razz Berry'. I have walked and walked to 'hatch the eggs'!
In just a day I went up 11 levels. I graduated from '0' to '200' in my kitty. The flip side is I have a very annoyed husband who hates me stopping every 2 minutes, to play with the 'ball' for a change. I have a super frustrated son, who is being a parent and advising me to look where i walk;) Ofcourse Singtel must be the happy party here as my data must have shot through the roof, obviously there is no wifi around the parks and beaches where these creatures pop up most!
Past two nights my dreams are invaded with hits, misses and various flying or jumping objects. I have got up singing and humming to myself 'Gottcha catch them all'!
Now I hate staying indoors, get me to the pokestops, drive me as i just want to be a passenger now! My Pokedex is ticking. Gotta catch them all. Pokemon here I GO!!
The sari lover in me wants my next sari with all the 151 pokemons printed on it!

A visit to the temple

I promised my lil princess to do something different on these two days, she was here to with me. Mother daughter set off to explore our little island. It's just a stone's throw away this treasure trove. The lhama temple on Sims Avenue. Very unassuming building from outside, what had impressed me over the year, I had been crossing this building was, the impressive entrance. We decided to walk in to see what lay beyond. 

A very warm welcome by Dereck, who very sweetly offered  to show us around. A pleasant surprise awaited as we explored floor after floor of this 5 story building. 

While on the first floor just behind the massive red doors are these impressive Buddha statues

 Derick took us straight to the fifth floor. Buddha with thousand hands, a wishing fountain behind a bell, with flowing water all round. This terrace is often used as the meditation place, when weather permits. There is a pillar with chants written, used by the 'master' to circle around, when he visits. 

The 4th floor is where the gods of wealth and wishes rest. The entrance to this floor has 8 Buddha statues in a wall. There is a wall inside with 88 Buddhas, these are adopted by members families, for their ancestors. The beauty of this wall when lit, is truly amazing. To our utter disbelief we saw our very dear 'Ganpati' Ji amongst the wealth gods worshipped by the Lhamas. 

The roof told a beautiful story of its own. There are 8 fairies hanging from the roof, making it completely surreal, seems the heavens have opened their gateway. 

The 3rd floor is used for class room training for young students. They are taught various skills, from chanting to incense making. The roofs in the class rooms have been specially hand painted.

What totally floored the mother daughter duo, is yet to come! The 2nd floor of the building houses a library and a tea corner. They have specially custom made teas to order from. What I loved here were the tea rooms. One can hire these rooms and get a flow of tea. The rooms can house 4 to 8 people.

I strongly recommend this as a must visit on your day off, next time. Vesak day one can go and light a candle in the temple. 

Z #Saris_A2Z

#Saris_A2Z as we reach letter 'Z' making this Saturday sparkle with the glitter of Zari, yes it's saris with Zari and Zardosi work featured today, and if it's a sari bought from 'Zari' it deserves to featured here..

Zardozi embroidery is beautiful metal embroidery. Zardozi embroidery work involves making elaborate designs, using gold and silver threads. Further adding to the magnificence of the work are the studded pearls and precious stones. Initially, the embroidery was done with pure silver wires and real gold leaves. However, today, craftsmen make use of a combination of copper wire, with a golden or silver polish, and a silk thread. 

Zari is an even thread traditionally made of fine gold or silver. This thread is used in the Zardozi embroidery. 

#iluvsaris @DemureDrapes

S #Saris_A2Z

#Saris_A2Z today our monday madness goes up a bit more with letter 'S'

Share your Shibori stories as I don't possess this and hence could not take a shoot in the same...

Another sari with letter 'S'~

Sungudi Saris...are traditional cotton saris from the village Chinnalapatti, Tamil Nadu, defined by the patterns of block prints and tie & dye designs. Also, known as Chinnalapattu saris. These are known by the names of ‘Sungudi sari’, Madhurai Sari, and Chinnalapattu.

The Sungudi saris are usually longer than the other kinds of saris available in the market.

One of the unique features of Sungudi saris is that they have Bandhani pattern or print on the whole sari. The Sungudi print saris are very light weight and comfortable wear.

The Sungudi saris are usually made from pure cotton fabric and the saris are dyed in natural colors. Since, it involves manual labor, the designs and patterns vary across each piece.The designs and colors of the sari may vary, but the fabric is pure cotton.The main feature of Sungudi saris is that they have bright colors along with contrasting borders, mostly in gold.

#iluvsaris Demure Drapes

R #Saris_A2Z

#Saris_A2Z today lets explore into the 'r' saris. I have looked hard and come up with this one name. Seek help and and advise from all you sari lovers for help. Pls add to the list. 'Rasipuram saris...'

Seetha was the savior in disguise this time. She lent her 'r'asipuram sari for the shoot..

Rasipuram saris are manufactured in Southern part of India. The silk saris from this place are very popular. The cottons here

have a very unique structure like silk, it is washable as it is pure cotton sari. It does come with very bright gold Zari work border with grand pallu.

#iluvsaris Demure Drapes