The word Korvai means to compile, join or thread together. Korvais are adavus when set to a particular Talam (Rhythm) and Kalam (speed) and usually concludes with a Theermanam. Dancer Mrinalini Sarabhai says “If we consider ‘Adavus’ as beads, ‘ Talam’  is the thread and ‘ Theermanam’ is the final knot we tie to finish […]

The Mishra Jaati and the Sankeerna jati is demonstrated here. Mishra has 7 beats Ta Ki Ta Ta Ka Dhi Mi. Sankeerna has 9 beat Ta Ka Dhi Mi Ta Ka Ta Ki Ta.

A Jaati is a pattern that  gives us the basic feel of a Thalam. Read the article Tala System to get a hang of how it works. What you need to understand as a beginner of Bharatanatyam is that there are five Jaatis. Every jaati is denoted by a set of syllables. They are: The […]

The Third variation is an extension of the second variation. I have seen this step being done in different ways. So I have also tried to explain the varieties seen in this step. The Bols are Tat Tai Tam, Dhit Tai Tam, which is sung twice on each side. The first part of the video […]

Now this step is a combination of the earlier steps. Such combinations are very often used to end the jathis or a sequence of nritta (pure dance). Here it is the combination of seventh, eight and the ninth variation. The bols are Tai Dhit Dhit Tai, Tai Tai Dhit Dhit Tai, Tai Tai Tai Dhit […]

Ninth Step is very similar to the previous ones. The Bols are Tai Tai Tai Dhit Dhit Tai. Its has three legs taps (Tai) at the beginning followed by Dhit Dhit Tai (ie sixth variation).

The fourth variation is very similar to the earlier steps. It only involves an additional foot tap at the beginning. The Bols are Tai Tai Tai Dhit Dhit Tai. 1. Be in Ardhamandala posture with hands held in Tripataka close to the chest. 2. Tap your right leg in the above position. Say Tai 3. […]

In the third step we need to tap our leg twice and repeat the first step. lets take a look at the video and understand it better. The Bols of this step is Tai Tai Dhit Dhit Tai. Every Tai is equal to one tap. 1. Be in Ardhamandala posture with hands held in Tripataka […]

The second step is an extention of the first step. It involves one tap of leg + the first step. The sollukettu of this step is Tai Dhit Dhit Tai. 1. Be in Ardhamandala posture with hands held in Tripataka close to the chest. 2. Tap your right leg in the above position. Say Tai […]

Here is the Video for the fifth step. For all the steps 1-5 the leg movements are the same. In all the videos the leg movements are shown so that it is easy for your reference. Read the explanation of the fifth step here.