India has the longest and richest theater tradition in the world, dating back at least 5,000 years. The origin of Indian theater is closely linked to the ancient rituals and seasonal festivals of the country. The Natyashastra (2000 BC - 4th century AD) was the earliest and most complex treatise on drama and dance in the world. Traditionally, the Natyashastra states that the Indian theater is of divine origin, and its origins are attributed to the Natyaveda, the sacred book of drama created by Lord Brahma.
The Natyashastra brought together and codified the various traditions of dance, pantomime and drama. Natyashastra describes ten classifications of drama, ranging from one act to ten acts. No book of ancient times in the world contains such an exhaustive study of dramaturgy as the Natya Shastra. It has guided playwrights, directors and actors for thousands of years, for in Bharata Muni the three were inseparable in creating the Sanskrit drama Natyaka, whose name comes from the word for dance. In traditional Hindu drama, the content of the play was expressed through music and dance, as well as through action, so any production was essentially a combination of opera, ballet and drama.
According to legend, the very first dance was performed in the sky when the gods, having defeated the demons, decided to celebrate their victory. Hindu theorists since ancient times have staged dance performances of two types: lokadharmi (realistic), in which the dancers on stage displayed human behavior, and natyadharmi (ordinary), which used stylized gestures and symbols (this type of dance performance was considered more artistic than realistic) .
Theater in India began with a descriptive form, so recitations, singing and dancing became integral elements of the theater. This emphasis on narrative elements led theater in India to embrace all other forms of literature and the visual arts in its physical manifestation: literature, pantomime, music, dance, movement, painting, sculpture and architecture all blended together and began to be called " natya" or "theater".
Painting, music, theater of India.
World art culture, grade 10.
- What is the uniqueness of Indian art?
painting art
General rules for artists:
- observe the scale and proportions of objects of the external world,
- achieve expressiveness in the depiction of psychological experiences and emotions,
- convey the beauty and grace of the surrounding nature.
- Main – instill in people lofty feelings and the best qualities of character.
murals in 29 cave temples of Ajanta - a panorama of life in India.
murals in the cave temples of Ajanta
- The main place in the paintings is occupied by episodes of the life of the Buddha and jaitaka, stories from the previous lives of the Buddha.
- We see princes, ceremonial trips on elephants, receptions of ambassadors, walks. The life of ordinary people is also captured here: peasants, beggars, hermits.
- Bright, colorful, noisy life, among lush vegetation, surrounded by exotic animals, deities, celestial dancers and musicians is full of jubilation and joy of being.
A young man with a lotus flower.
Botisatva - supreme deity
Jaitaki -stories from previous reincarnations of the Buddha
Book miniature of India
Indian epics - "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana"
Book miniature features:
- accurate storytelling
- multi-figured composition
- background - conditionally decorative landscape
The works of Indian miniaturists are distinguished
- richness of shades
- drawing clarity,
- finesse of artistic
taste.
- “A person who knows neither music, nor literature, nor any other art, is an animal, even if without a tail and horns.”
- Classical music dates back to 1500 BC.
- From the hymns of "Rogneda" there were songs about the change of seasons.
- Indian music is based on raga(passion, color, affection)
- Raga is a melodic idea with an appropriate intonation (mood).
- Raga (daily cycle) is associated with a specific time of day and is designed to evoke a state or feeling common to man and nature.
- The main instrument is the human voice.
- Guilt(musical instrument) - the queen of instruments, reminiscent of the human voice in its sound.
Music of India
metal plates
- drums
- tabla
- Theatrical art of India originated several millennia ago. A bronze figurine of a dancing girl, found during excavations in the city of Mohenjo Daro, dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. It was the ritual dance that became the core around which the Indian classical theater was formed.
- Indian tradition associates the beginning of the theater with the name of the legendary Bharata, directly inspired by the god Brahma: at the request of the gods, Brahma decided to create the fifth Veda, accessible to all classes; by combining the Word, Mode, Action and Feeling, taken respectively from the Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda, Brahma created and recorded through Bharata this Veda of Dance and Drama in the Natyashastra.
Veda (Bharat)
aesthetics
- recitation
Higher Goal: Achievement race- i.e. aesthetic pleasure
- Main tasks : teach and entertain.
- occasions: religious holidays, court celebrations, births, victories, etc.
- Plots: folk traditions and legends, heroic deeds, love.
- Troupe: main actor, singers, musicians, dancers.
- Role: heroes and heroines, ministers and jesters.
- Actors, having lost the support of the state, became storytellers, acrobats, jugglers and singers. Puppet theaters appeared: shadow, marionette, cane, rag puppets.
- A characteristic feature of the Indian performance is the unity of music, singing and dance.
- Dance from Sanskrit (the oldest Indian literary language) - "tandi", "tandava" - means " beat, clap.Hence German "tans","English dance and Russian "dance".
- The dance was born of god Shiva - the cosmic king of dances.
- The connection between God and people was carried out through dance.
- During the construction of the temple, rooms for dancing were provided.
- Among the paintings of temples there are images apsara - heavenly dancers .
Classical system dance (treatise "Natyashastra")
- Rules: special types of gaits, gestures, postures and facial expressions.
- Transfer of emotions: happiness, anger, disgust, fear, sadness, courage,
compassion, wonder and peace.
- Dance sign language wise :37 positions of the hands, 13-head, 9-neck, 10-body, 36-eye.
The syncretic nature of the dance (music.poetry, dramatic art.pantonym)
- Themes: transmission of the state of nature, emotions, religious and secular.
- Ritual (temple ) WITH Veteran .
- How true is the statement that the theatrical art of India is a synthesis of literature, music, facial expressions and dance?
- What are the features of the development of the art of music and dance in India?
Indian theater is one of the oldest theaters in the world: its theory and practice were developed around the 2nd century BC. BC e. He is not only original, but also carried this originality through the thickness of centuries. The mastery of classical Indian theater is so filigree that it is almost impossible for representatives of other countries and peoples to master it. In general terms, the Indian theater in historical and factual terms can be divided into classical Sanskrit drama, folk theater and European-style theater.
Theatrical art of India originated in the 1st 2nd centuries. BC e. and its creation is attributed to a sage named Bharata. According to legend, the god of war, Indra, asked the creator Brahma to come up with an entertainment that would appeal to all people. Brahma extracted recitation, singing, playing and aesthetics from the four "Vedas" and taught these arts to Bharata, commanding him with his hundred of his sons to protect and establish this art on earth. Brahma formulated the main tasks of the theater: to teach and entertain. The earliest plays that have come down to us are written in the classical language of India, Sanskrit, and allow us to conclude. That time dramaturgy was a developed fever of theatrical art. The favorite plots of the plays are folk tales and legends, the heroic deeds of the royal sages and love.
According to the treatise, there are four main expressive means - angika, mudra, vachika, akharya. Angika is the language of conventional gestures of hands, fingers, lips, neck and feet. Mudra is a gesture that has a symbolic meaning. There are twenty-four basic gestures, each with over thirty different meanings. Vachika - diction, intonation and tempo of speech that create a certain mood. Akharya - the canonized color and details of the costume, make-up. For the gods and celestial maidens - orange makeup, for the sun and Brahma - gold, for the Himalayas and the Ganges - white. Demons and dwarfs wear horns - deer, ram or buffalo. In people, makeup depends on their social status, belonging to a caste. Representatives of the higher castes - Brahmins and Kshatriyas - have red makeup, the Shudras have dark blue, the kings have soft pink, the hermits have purple.
An early evidence of the birth of theatrical art was a bronze figurine of a dancing girl found during excavations in the city of Mohenjo Daro in the 3rd millennium BC. e. It was the ritual dance that became the core around which the Indian classical theater was formed. The model for the dancer was the image of the dancing Shiva, in whose dance the creative and destructive energy of the Universe was manifested. In ancient India, theatrical performances are part of the festival dedicated to the gods, for example, the thunder god Indra. A "banner" was hoisted in his honor, which symbolized a tree brought from the forest. After the ceremony, he was drowned in the river to give strength to the earth and water.
The component of theatrical action, sattvika, is the state of mind transmitted by the actor (bhava), and the mood of the audience after what they saw on stage (rasa). The actor must get used to the feelings of his character and be able to convey the subtlest experiences, for which he should master the acting technique. The ability to shed a tear, to show how cold tightens the skin of the face, how fear runs through the whole body, i.e. mastery of acting technique can cause a certain mood in the viewer. The whole aesthetic concept of Indian performing arts is based on the teachings of bhava and rasa.
The highest goal of the performance was to achieve RACE - the aesthetic pleasure that arises as a result of the skillful play of the actor. The seven basic feelings (comic, pathos, anger, heroism, horror, hatred, amazement) were to be embodied by the actors. A characteristic feature of Indian theater is the unity of music. singing and dancing. Figurine of a dancing girl (Mohenjo Daro III millennium BC).
In Indian culture, there is a division of the theater into several types: Folk. This type of stage art had a storyline based on the epic and Indian mythology. The acting profession in India was not respected. This is due to the fact that the artist portrayed the gods in a funny and obscene manner. Actors were humiliated and considered the lower strata of society. But in order to acquire mastery in this profession, one had to be a rather educated person; Courtier. Performances were held in the courtyards of the nobility for entertainment purposes.
In the south of the country, another form of mystery theater developed, associated with the art of temple storytellers - chakiars. They read verses in Sanskrit and then explained the text in the language of the locals. The narrator used facial expressions and gestures. Later, he was replaced by an actor, accompanying the recitation with dances. The performance was called kutiyattam (Skt. “collective dance”) In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. classical Indian theatre. Its heyday falls on the 1st-9th centuries. when the famous works of Sanskrit drama were created. The most famous playwrights are Bhasa, Kalidasa, Shudraka. The dates of their life are approximate, the information of researchers sometimes diverge for centuries. Of the thirteen works of Bhasa (II or III centuries), the best is considered to be Vasavadata Appearing in a dream - a play about the king's love for his wife Vasavadata.
Ashvaghosha (2nd century AD) is considered the first Indian playwright. But classical drama reached its greatest flourishing under Kalidas (4th century AD). In addition to Kalidasa, the names of five more famous playwrights are named: Shudraka, Harsha, Visakhadatta, Bhasa and Bhavabhutn. Classical drama reached its peak in the 4th-5th centuries. n. e. By the 8th century she fell into disrepair. However, even today, the oldest traditional theater in Kerala, kudiyat, continues to live there, while maintaining its school of training actors.
Kalida sa (कलदस, Kālidāsa IAST, literally "Servant of Goddess Kali") is the greatest playwright and poet of ancient India who wrote in Sanskrit. The works created by Kalidasa symbolize the flowering of classical Indian culture. The drama of Kalidasa "Shakuntala" was one of the first works of Eastern literature, translated into European languages and introduced Europe to the literature of the East. Dramas and other works of Kalidasa do not contain any direct indications of the time of their composition. The mention of Greek female slaves testifies to a relatively late time, and the Prakrit forms in the speeches of some characters indicate a large chronological distance separating them from the language of the inscriptions of King Ashoka, or Piyadasi. It is doubtful, however, that Kalidasa lived in the 11th century, since the works of other writers of this century clearly testify to literary decline, while the dramas of Kalidasa represent the climax of Indian poetry.
The authorship of the famous Clay Cart (presumably 4th century) is attributed to King Shudraka. The play was staged in many theaters around the world even in the 20th century. The play tells about the love of the courtesan actress for the Brahmin Charudatta - a man belonging to the highest caste and also married. This plot went beyond the traditional. After long trials, the lovers were reunited.
The pinnacle of the dramaturgy of ancient India is the drama of Shakuntala Kalidasa (in some sources, Shakuntala). The plot of the play about the loyalty and love of Shakuntala to King Dushyanta came from the Mahabharata, but was supplemented and expanded by Kalidasa for more drama in the development of the storyline. The performance has been preserved not only in the modern theaters of India, but also went around the stages of the theaters of the world: it was staged in Berlin; in 1914 in the chamber theater of A. Tairov; in 1957 - in Beijing.
A special form of theater in India is the classical dance, which includes the word and sometimes singing. It was in the dance that the god Shiva created the world. In one of the temples there is a famous image of dancing Shiva. The columns depict 108 of his dancing poses, which are mentioned in the theatrical treatise Natyashastra. One of the most ancient styles - bharat natya has come down to us thanks to devasi - temple dancers who dedicated their lives to a deity. Over time, the dance became a means of entertainment for the feudal aristocracy, and the name "devasi" became synonymous with the courtesan. The dance was a combination of Nritya (story dance) and Snritta (pure dance). Then an interlude (paddam) was performed, in which the dancer conveys with gestures the content of the song performed in Sanskrit.
Classical drama (nataka) had ten canonical varieties: 1) nataka proper with a plot from popular tales; 2) prokarana with a plot invented or revised by the author; 3) samvakara with a plot from legends about gods and demons; 4) ihmrita with a plot borrowed or partially composed by the author about a hero who seeks to unite with his beloved; 5) dima with a borrowed story about various mythological creatures; 6) Vyayoga, a one-act drama with a borrowed comic plot; 7) anka one-act drama with the author's plot of a pathetic or resonant moralizing nature; 8) prahasana, a one-act farce with a story from everyday life; 9) bhana is a one-act play with an author's plot of heroic content, played by one actor; 10) vithi is a one-act play that differs from bhana in the number of performers (two or three).
In the 15th century In North India, the classical Kathak dance style is taking shape. By that time, a state had developed in which the Muslim conquerors assimilated, and giving impetus to the fusion of Muslim and Hindu art, kathak was the result of a fusion of two cultures. The dance was performed in Persian costumes, but was a continuation of the legends about the love of Vadhi and Krishna. In the 17th century Kathakali theater is born in South India. Pantomimic dance drama tells about gods and demons, their love and hatred. The performance is given either in the courtyard of the temple or in the open air. Its spectators are the peasants of the surrounding villages, who leave their evening cares and deeds, barely hearing the sound of the drum. Theatrical performance is given on a black background of the night.
The real "katakali" lasts for hours and this is ... a heavy and complex art that is difficult for a foreigner to understand, but for an hour and a half for a tourist it’s even nothing, especially if you come early and watch how the actors prepare for the performance ...
Theater roots TOattacked
lie in the folk dances and performances performed by Kerala peasants during the long Indian evenings before the advent of cinema, television and Bollywood. At that time, there was no TV, no Internet, and it was necessary to somehow have fun, so they came up with their own theater - Kathakali, which has now become not just art, but also a "national treasure"!
And, if our theater begins with a hanger, then the Indian theater "katakali" begins with a dressing room .... And that's where we will go now
I arrived at the theater an hour and a half before the start of the performance to watch and photograph the process of preparing the actors. Here, in Kerala, the actors do not hide in the dressing rooms, but put on makeup right on the stage, and anyone who comes in advance can watch the process of transforming ordinary people into Kathakali actors.
There are few actors in the theater, and I would even say few. In the performance I saw, there were only four of them, and they all made a "marafet" on the stage, transforming from ordinary people into "demons", "gods" and ordinary people ...
First, everyone paints himself ..... for example, in "Demon" ...
Or into a woman
Or one of the Indian Gods
And just like that, an hour goes by... or even two... In a stuffy theatre, with a temperature of over 40 without ventilation.... then bam and - "call"! Like we do in the theatre. Rings and calls the audience into the hall - the performance begins !!! So what ... let's go look)
Plot Katakali, as a rule, scenes from ancient Indian epics like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc. For us, "non-locals", these are generally completely incomprehensible stories, but it's interesting to watch! Interesting, because it is not clear! The more sense Katakali- not in the "meaning", but in the "representation".
I shot the performance itself on video, not on a photo. Moreover, it is very dark in the theater and it is extremely difficult to photograph, and it is strictly forbidden to use a flash. I will mount the video soon and will definitely post it, but for now I can only show the main characters of the show. This is how, for example, the main negative character looked like "Demon".
And so - kind)
And to "resolve" the situation between good And evil descended from heaven Krishna
By and large, it does not matter what kind of story is shown in the theater. Much more interesting is HOW they do it! This is art! Yes, somewhere funny, somewhere incomprehensible, somewhere delusional, somewhere stupid ... but still you sit and watch ... because, damn it, I wonder how it will all end ???
And by the way, the real "katakali" is being performed ONLY men who are trained from an early age in special theater schools. And the most important thing in the theater "kathakali" - This pantomime And sign language , not dances, songs and dialogues. Perhaps that is why you can watch the theater without knowing the language at all, "read" the emotions and gestures of the actors and understand what is being said. You can't even imagine how many emotions these actors can show with just... EYES!!!
Traditionally, "katakali" is performed in a special place on a moonlit (!) night and lasts from dusk to dawn. To withstand this, in my opinion, is almost impossible. Those couple of hours that I was at the performance was more than enough for me. At the same time, all night after the performance, I heard "katakal music" in a dream and raved about the showdown between "Demon" and "Krishna" ....
But anyway, you won't understand it until you see it for yourself... So either go to Kerala and see for yourself, or... wait for my video from India)))
Answering the question of the "top" I unequivocally affirm: Katakali is an art, unique in its kind!
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