Alarippu
The word Alarippu means “a flowering bud.” It is an innovatory piece meaning it is performed before a dancer begins a whole performance. It is considered to be a warm up piece for the dancers. According to T. Balasraswati “Alarippu, which is based on rhythm alone, brings out the special charm of pure dance. The movements of Alarippu relax the dancer’s mind and thereby her mind, loosen and coordinate her limbs and prepare her for the dance. Rhythm has a rare capacity to invoke concentration. Alarippu is most valuable in freeing the dancer from distraction and making her single-minded.”
Alarippu begins with Atamis or neck movements followed by Mandi advau in the second half and later culminates with vibrant foot work and teermanam adavu. In the following video I have tried to explain the first half of Alarippu step by step.
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Tags: allarippu · alrippu · bharat natya · bharata natyam · Bharatanatyam · Bharatnatyam · Dance · Gesture · Indian classical dance · Learning · lessons · online lessons
10 responses so far ↓
Hi Anjali
I m balu pursuing Ph.D in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Newdelhi. since my childhood i have a dream to learn baratnatyam but did not got chance to learn. But by your onlinebharatnatyam website my dream which i thought could not get fulfilled getting fulfilled. Thank’s for your justification to the art which u had learned.
from today onwards i watch all ur sessions and i became ur fan.
thank u.
if u r there in front of me i would have touched ur feet and said thanks.
Thank you Balu. Wish you all the best.
Hi Anjali,
I came to Bangalore from Maharashtra for job reasons and am fascinated by the dance traditions of the south. I see dance recitals and feel them eye-pleasing, but your demonstrations have helped me understand some finer details, so that i can appreciate the performances in a better way. thanks a lot.
And yes, you look pretty in that simple dance costume. kudos!
Glad to know the site has help you appreciate Natyam. Thank you Dhananjay
thank you so much for the video and i actually understood it really well. i was wondering whether you could do another video of meiya adavu if it is alright with you and i am in grade 3. i’m not forcing you to do this but just asking whether you would be able to.
Thank you Selvi, Will do that soon
hi anjali,
i’m learning the alarippu now, and we were asked to do the thalam.
can you help me how to do the thalam for the alarippu?
your website is really good and it helped me allot, thank you very much!
swathi x
@Swati, your teacher can explain it to your better, since you need to understand the mathematics behind it.
hello mam ur site is very useful… can u pls suggest gud projects for kids in bharatanatyam…..and also pls hlp me a gud universuty frm where we can do masters or phd in bharatanatyam
hi .you are excellent.can you sugest me interesting method on how to teach bharatanatyam and plz can you give me some suggestion on how to give children progets where they get more and more knowledge.and can u tel me how can i imorove my knowlege more and more