Bhava and Rasa in Indian Classical Dance

Art forms across the world have powers to give unique experiences to the audience. Indian Classical dance forms have power to enthral audience and take them to a whole new meditative and spiritual level. It is an art meant for people who are looking for something to quench their soul. It has the energy that flows through the audience body to the audience’s mind.

Whether the dance performed is a pure dance or Abhinaya (acting) , it is complete only when the Bhava or the expressions presented is communicated and touched hearts of the audience.

Bhava

Expressions are very crucial to complete the dance. In a dance called Abhinaya or acting, dancer expresses characters through her facial expression and body language. It is beauty of Indian classical dance that performer has to feel everything through his/her heart to actually present it. Sometimes dancer has to enact something that she has never came across in real life, but then only an artist has to evolve and present the act so truly and honestly as if she is the person going through that. A dancer is not a person that he/she is in this real world, one has to go out of himself, leave his identity and be the one who he is enacting. A classical dance is thus a meditation where one leaves oneself and goes to another world, it is a form of worship.

Not only abhinaya, a pure dance like Manglacharan, Battu and Basant Pallavi (dance items of Odissi Classical dance form) also requires expressions. For example, in Manglacharan we worship God, hence a dancer has to inculcate connection with the supreme power. In Battu, we showcases different musical instruments and Tandava dance (masculine and strong dance postures) of Battukeshwar (a form of Shiva) lord. In Basant Pallavi, dancer expresses Basant or Spring Season and says look how beautiful and mesmerising is the spring season. One has to feel everything for example flower loaded trees, fragrance around, soft breeze, chirping of birds and butterflies and bring audience to the spring season.

Infact, I learnt a new thing. There is a Odissi Abhinaya item “Dekhi Bo” i.e. an Oriya song where a Gopi explains Krishna to her friend. In a single song many times we show Krishna’s flute through the same hand gestures. But the same gesture has different meaning every time we show it, sometimes we are showing how krishna holds the flute, sometimes the swaras (sweet sound) that comes out when krishna plays the flute and sometimes simple krishna holding the flute. Gesture is same but bhava is different and that is the responsibility of dancer to depict all different bhavas clearly through dance.

When a dancer feels the situations in dance or meaning of the dance item though his heart and dance , it is Bhava.

Rasa

Bhava starts with the dancer when she feels it and when it reaches to the audience and audience feel it, it becomes Rasa. A classical dance has amazing capability to fill the surroundings or create an environment with a Rasa, and immerse everyone in that environment.

It is like a dancer first generates or collects the energies from the world , gives them rhythm through playing music using her body and then let the rhythmic, organised or you can say energy with a specific meaning or purpose flow through her body to everyone else whoever is watching.

I have seen a lot of amazing live performances and I have experienced the rasa a number of times. One must go to live performances and feel it. It calms your mind and body.

Learning the process of creating Rasa and Bhava transforms a dancer within. She feels a blessing and completeness that she could make her audience feel the same energy and connection with God as she feels herself when she danced.