Bharatanatyam vs Kuchipudi
Between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, the two forms of dance practiced in India, we can identify certain differences in their styles, costumes, techniques involved, and the like. They are both traditional Indian dances that are very beautiful to watch. That is because they contain beautiful music, costumes, and dance poses. If you have learned Bharatanatyam and hope to learn Kuchipudi, then you will find that Kuchipudi has more brisky poses than Bharatanatyam. For an observer who does not know either of the dance styles, both might appear the same because of the similarities of the costume and movements. That is why we are going to discuss what differences set them apart.
What is Bharatanatyam?
If we pay attention to the place where Bharatanatyam originated, we can find that Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form that originated from the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. Bharatanatyam represents the inner fire of the human body. Hence, it is often called as fire dance. When we consider the poses in this dance style, we can see that Bharatanatyam has more of sculptured poses. However, if you want to identify a Bharatanatyam dancer without watching the steps, then you have to pay attention to the costume. The costumes used in Bharatanatyam have three fans of varied lengths. One of them is the lengthiest.
Bharatanatyam has several pieces in its format. A Bharatanatyam recital generally starts with an alarippu. The other items in the format include jatiswaram, sabdam, padam, varnam, tillana, and asthtapadi. This is only a general rule regarding the format of the Bharatanatyam recital. Moreover, Bharatanatayam does not give Vachkabhinayam. That is, the dancer will not lip sing the song.
What is Kuchipudi?
If we pay attention to the place where Kuchipudi originated, we can find that the dance form of Kuchipudi originated in the traditional style from the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. The dance form of Kuchipudi represents the metaphysical desire in man to unite with God. The dance poses of the dance form Kuchipudi consists more of rounded poses, in contrast to the sculptured poses in Bharatanatyam. You can tell if a dancer is going to dance the Kuchipudi dancing style by simply looking at the costume. The costumes used in the Kuchipudi style of dance has only one fan, and it is invariably lengthy than the lengthiest one used in the style of Bharatanatyam.
When you consider the format of the dance, Kuchipudi concentrates mainly on the Thillana and the Jatiswaram aspects of the items in a performance in order to exhibit the intense desire of the dancer to become one with the supreme God. The poses in Kuchipudi are more brisk when compared to the poses in Bharatanatyam. Kuchipudi dancers will lip sing while they are dancing. This is because in the past, Kuchipudi dancers used to sing their own songs while they danced.
What is the difference between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi?
• Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form that originated from the state of Tamil Nadu in South India. On the other hand, the dance form Kuchipudi originated in the traditional style from the state of Andhra Pradesh, also in South India.
• Both the dance forms differ when it comes to their poses. In fact, Bharatanatyam has more of sculptured poses, whereas Kuchipudi has more of rounded poses.
• Bharatanatyam represents the inner fire of the human body. Hence, it is often called as fire dance. On the other hand, Kuchipudi represents the metaphysical desire in man to unite with God.
• Bharatanatyam has several pieces in its format. A Bharatanatyam recital generally starts with an alarippu and include jatiswaram, sabdam, padam, varnam, tillana and asthtapadi. This is only a general rule regarding the format of the Bharatanatyam recital.
• On the other hand, the Kuchipudi concentrates mainly on the Thillana and the Jatiswaram aspects in order to exhibit the intense desire of the dancer to become one with the supreme God.
• The poses in Kuchipudi are more brisk when compared to the poses in Bharatanatyam.
• Both the dance forms differ when it comes to the nature of costumes used by its dancers. The costumes used in Bharatanatyam have three fans of varied lengths. One of them is the lengthiest. On the other hand, the costumes used in the Kuchipudi style of dance has only one fan and it is invariably lengthy than the lengthiest one used in the style of Bharatanatyam. This is an interesting difference between the two forms.
• Kuchipudi has vachikabhinayam. That means they give lip movement as if they are singing the song. However, Bharatanatyam dancer does not make lip movements while dancing. This is one of the main differences between the two dance forms; namely, Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
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