Warm-up and base positions
Every class starts with a salutation to the earth, the teacher and the audience, then a warm-up: neck rolls, shoulder circles, gentle squats and ankle rolls. Warm muscles are less likely to be hurt.
Base positions
- Samapada: feet together, standing straight.
- Aramandi / ardhamandala (Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi): heels together, toes turned out, knees bent outwards into a diamond shape, back straight.
- Mandala / muzhumandi: a full sit on the toes with knees wide.
- Chauk (Odissi): a square stance, feet apart, knees bent out, arms held up at shoulder level.
- Kathak uses a tall upright stance with weight balanced over the feet.
Sitting positions are used to practise hand gestures and expression before adding the feet.
Body lines, eyes, neck and head
Tribhanga (three bends) makes an S-shape: head tilts one way, torso the other, hip back to the first side. It is a key line in Odissi.
Eye exercises train the eyes to move up, down, side to side and in circles while the head stays still, because the eyes carry most of the feeling. Neck movements (sideways gliding) and head movements (nodding, turning, tilting) are drilled in time with the beat. Wrist rotations keep hands soft for Manipuri and Odissi.
Footwork in three speeds
A footwork unit is called an adavu (Bharatanatyam), adugu (Kuchipudi) or tatkar (Kathak). Each is practised in three speeds:
- First speed (thah/vilambit-style): 1 stamp per beat.
- Second speed (dugun): 2 stamps per beat.
- Third speed (chaugun): 4 stamps per beat.
Stamps per second = (BPM ÷ 60) × speed. At 60 BPM in chaugun: 1 × 4 = 4 stamps a second. Common units: tattadavu (striking the floor), nattadavu (stretching the heel), Kuchipudi mandikoppu, Manipuri chali (a soft walking step), and Kathakali leaps and seven chuzhippu (body circlings).
Tala: counting the cycle
A tala is a repeating cycle of beats. Dancers keep it with claps and waves of the hand while reciting rhythm syllables (bols in Kathak, sollukattu in Bharatanatyam).
- Teentaal: 16 beats (4+4+4+4). Beat 1 = sam (X), beat 9 = khali (0, a wave).
- Jhaptaal: 10 beats (2+3+2+3).
- Adi talam: 8 beats (4+2+2). Rupaka talam: 3 beats in the common modern count. Tisra eka: 3 beats.
A tihai or korvai/teermanam is a short pattern played three times so that it lands exactly on sam. Example: in teentaal, a 5-beat phrase × 3 = 15 beats, started on beat 3, ends on beat 17, which is the next sam.
Hastas, turns and items
Hastas are hand gestures. Asamyuta hastas use one hand (e.g. pataka, tripataka, ardhachandra, mushti), samyuta use both (e.g. anjali, kapota). Pataka (a flag) has all fingers straight and together with the thumb bent; it can show a cloud, a forest, a blessing, a door or waves. Kathakali uses 24 basic hand gestures.
Turns: Kathak chakkar (fast spins on the heel), Odissi bhramari. Fix the eyes on one point and snap the head round ("spotting") to avoid dizziness. Padabhedas are kinds of foot positions. Items like a pallavi (Odissi) or jatiswaram (Bharatanatyam) join these units into a full piece.
Safe practice
- Warm up and cool down; drink water.
- Knees always point over the toes in aramandi to protect the joints.
- Build speed slowly: clean first speed before second.
Try it yourself
Set a phone metronome to 60 BPM. Stamp 1, then 2, then 4 times per click for 16 clicks each, saying "1" loudly on sam. Then stand in aramandi in front of a mirror for 30 seconds: are your knees over your toes? In the 3D, step 6, match the tempo you used and check the count.
Key formulas and definitions
- Stamps per second = (BPM ÷ 60) × speed (1, 2 or 4)
- Teentaal = 16 beats (4+4+4+4); sam = beat 1, khali = beat 9
- Jhaptaal = 10 beats (2+3+2+3); Adi talam = 8 beats (4+2+2)
- Tihai = phrase × 3, landing on sam
- Tribhanga = head + torso + hip bends (S-shape)
Worked examples
1. At 90 BPM in double speed, how many stamps per second?
90 ÷ 60 = 1.5 beats per second; × 2 = 3 stamps per second.
2. How many stamps in one full cycle of teentaal at quadruple speed?
16 beats × 4 = 64 stamps.
3. A tihai uses a 5-beat phrase with no gap. On which beat of teentaal must it start to end on sam?
5 × 3 = 15 beats. The next sam is beat 17 (16 + 1). Start = 17 − 15 + 1 = beat 3. Check: beats 3 to 17 is 15 beats.
Common mistakes
- Letting the knees fall inwards in aramandi; they must stay over the toes.
- Speeding up the beat in second speed: the beat stays the same, only the stamps double.
- Forgetting the khali: in teentaal beat 9 is shown with a wave, not a clap.
- Moving the head with the eyes during eye exercises; the head should stay still.