Vichaar: An Online Production Exploring the Convergence Between Bharatanatyam and Neuroscience
Episode 2: Movement in Bharatanatyam and in the brain
Episode 2: Movement in Bharatanatyam and in the brain
Welcome to the second episode of Vichaar. Vichaar is an online production that aims to analyze
and explore the points of convergence between arts and sciences, and more specifically between Bharatanatyam and neuroscience.
In this episode, I will talk about movement. Of course, movement is something that is inherent
to life; it is inherent to a lot of dance forms.
Today, I want to talk about three things.
So tai-ya-tai, tay-ya-tai. (Sloka demonstrates Tattadavu)
Another kind of movement that, um, again, is pretty typical of Bharatanatyam is called Naatadavu, and in this one, what you will see is an extension of one leg and then an extension of another leg.
So, it's tai-yum-tatta-tai-hi-ta. (Sloka demonstrates Naatadavu)
Other kinds of movement in Bharatanatyam could be those that traverse a lot of lateral space.
What you're going to see next is a snippet or a short segment of a Thillana, where you'll see these small movements of the neck and the eyes that blossom into bigger movements of the entire body.
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
The second point I want to talk about today is how the brain enables movement. When we think of the part of the brain that is responsible for movement, that part is called the motor cortex. So the cortex is actually the outer layer of our brain, and our brains consist of millions and millions of cells in these cells are called neurons. Now, coming back to the motor cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for movement, even that is divided into the primary motor cortex and the non-primary motor cortex. The primary motor cortex is responsible for initiation of movement. Whereas the non-primary motor cortex is responsible for planning and then selecting a movement that aligns with, with whatever occasion there is.
Another thing to keep in mind is that of a contextual cue. So, what is this cue? One example of this cue could be perhaps in our daily lives when we have our phones next to us. And when the phone rings, that sound is a contextual cue and we reach out for the phone. This voluntary movement is actually triggered by the contextual cue. For a dancer on stage, for the pieces that you are seeing me perform today, my cue is actually Jayan Sir's voice. So, in response to this contextual cue, what happens is that there are neurons in a part of the brain called the midbrain. These midbrain neurons are activated and electrical impulses or electrical activity from the midbrain travels to the thalamus, which is another part of the brain. The thalamus is actually located deep inside the brain, and it is also known as a relay center. So, its job is to take electrical impulses from all over the brain and then transmit it to the cortex. And as we saw, the part of the brain that is important for movement in the cortex is the motor cortex.
So, something that is simple, you know, jumping over a part of water, for example, that we might do, you know, on a, on a daily basis, or if not daily on a routine basis, all these movements are very complex and there are a lot of structures in the brain that have to work together to make it happen.
I will now perform a second piece. In the first piece, we were looking at the small movements giving way to big movements of the body. In this piece, what I hope you will focus on, is me moving through distance. So, me moving towards you away from you towards the side, towards this side as well.
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
The third thing I want to talk about is how the brain perceives movement. This is important for us in, in our dance slides, in our non-dance lives as well. In Bharatanatyam, you might have seen a lot of poses for example, and it's really interesting to think about how the brain perceives the difference between stillness and movement. The brain actually ascribes meaning to movement
and this meaning: putting together, so stringing together these meanings, just like you would string together words to make a sentence, is actually what shapes our individual and our collective reality.
I will now perform a short segment of the same thillana, where what I will do is do some gestures and these gestures are meant to tell a story.
So, a few of the gestures I'll demonstrate now you will see me do this (Sloka demonstrates), so this is a gesture for "a place". In this particular poem or in this particular verse, it is a certain place called Ramanathapuram.
However, it could also be your hometown, my hometown, my house, your house. So it is, is a gesture that shows place.
You'll also see me do this (Sloka demonstrates), which is a gesture for a king.So again, this is a gesture for a king.
And in this particular verse, the poet is requesting goddess who can be shown in this way or in this way to bless the king who rules over Ramanathapuram (Sloka demonstrates).
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
So, this brings me to the end of today's episode. I hope I was able to give a short glimpse into movement in Bharatanatyam, and movement in our brains. Specifically, we talked about three things. We saw a little bit of the kinds of movements that we use in Bharatanatyam. We saw the complexity of movement, the parts of the brain that are involved in making movement possible: planning, initiation, sustaining movement, and then terminating movement. And then lastly, we saw that the brain meaning to movement, and this is really what shapes our reality, the reality of people around us.
I hope you enjoy today's episode. Of course, I would like to thank my gurus Maheshwari Amma, Nagarajan Sir, Vanitha didi, as well as Jayan Sir, not just for today's episode, but for this entire series and really for my entire artistic journey. They've always, maintained and shown through example that it's amazing to do dance on stage, it's beautiful, it's really uplifting, but if we let it, dance can really permeate and really make our lives beautiful. It can make our existence beautiful.
I would love to hear from you. What do you think about this topic of movement in the brain and movement in dance? Are there some kinds of movement that are really automatic to you? And what do you think is happening in the brain while movements are becoming automatic?
I hope again, that you enjoyed today's episode. Next month I will take another aspect of Bharatanatyam, and then talk about its neuroscientific basis.
In the meantime, if you want to reach out, please reach out to me at www.slokaiyengar.net.
And I hope to see you next month. Thank you!
and explore the points of convergence between arts and sciences, and more specifically between Bharatanatyam and neuroscience.
In this episode, I will talk about movement. Of course, movement is something that is inherent
to life; it is inherent to a lot of dance forms.
Today, I want to talk about three things.
- The first one is to give a glimpse as far as the types of movements and movement patterns that we use in pattern than our, to either convey a mood or to tell a story.
- The second thing I want to talk about is how the brain enables movement. Something that that may seem simple, for example, walking on the street, is actually enabled by the brain by many of its neurons and several structures in the brain. So, movement is complex.
- The third thing I want to talk about is how the brain perceives movement, and it is this perception of movement, this ascribing movement meaning that shapes our reality.
So tai-ya-tai, tay-ya-tai. (Sloka demonstrates Tattadavu)
Another kind of movement that, um, again, is pretty typical of Bharatanatyam is called Naatadavu, and in this one, what you will see is an extension of one leg and then an extension of another leg.
So, it's tai-yum-tatta-tai-hi-ta. (Sloka demonstrates Naatadavu)
Other kinds of movement in Bharatanatyam could be those that traverse a lot of lateral space.
What you're going to see next is a snippet or a short segment of a Thillana, where you'll see these small movements of the neck and the eyes that blossom into bigger movements of the entire body.
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
The second point I want to talk about today is how the brain enables movement. When we think of the part of the brain that is responsible for movement, that part is called the motor cortex. So the cortex is actually the outer layer of our brain, and our brains consist of millions and millions of cells in these cells are called neurons. Now, coming back to the motor cortex, which is the part of the brain responsible for movement, even that is divided into the primary motor cortex and the non-primary motor cortex. The primary motor cortex is responsible for initiation of movement. Whereas the non-primary motor cortex is responsible for planning and then selecting a movement that aligns with, with whatever occasion there is.
Another thing to keep in mind is that of a contextual cue. So, what is this cue? One example of this cue could be perhaps in our daily lives when we have our phones next to us. And when the phone rings, that sound is a contextual cue and we reach out for the phone. This voluntary movement is actually triggered by the contextual cue. For a dancer on stage, for the pieces that you are seeing me perform today, my cue is actually Jayan Sir's voice. So, in response to this contextual cue, what happens is that there are neurons in a part of the brain called the midbrain. These midbrain neurons are activated and electrical impulses or electrical activity from the midbrain travels to the thalamus, which is another part of the brain. The thalamus is actually located deep inside the brain, and it is also known as a relay center. So, its job is to take electrical impulses from all over the brain and then transmit it to the cortex. And as we saw, the part of the brain that is important for movement in the cortex is the motor cortex.
So, something that is simple, you know, jumping over a part of water, for example, that we might do, you know, on a, on a daily basis, or if not daily on a routine basis, all these movements are very complex and there are a lot of structures in the brain that have to work together to make it happen.
I will now perform a second piece. In the first piece, we were looking at the small movements giving way to big movements of the body. In this piece, what I hope you will focus on, is me moving through distance. So, me moving towards you away from you towards the side, towards this side as well.
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
The third thing I want to talk about is how the brain perceives movement. This is important for us in, in our dance slides, in our non-dance lives as well. In Bharatanatyam, you might have seen a lot of poses for example, and it's really interesting to think about how the brain perceives the difference between stillness and movement. The brain actually ascribes meaning to movement
and this meaning: putting together, so stringing together these meanings, just like you would string together words to make a sentence, is actually what shapes our individual and our collective reality.
I will now perform a short segment of the same thillana, where what I will do is do some gestures and these gestures are meant to tell a story.
So, a few of the gestures I'll demonstrate now you will see me do this (Sloka demonstrates), so this is a gesture for "a place". In this particular poem or in this particular verse, it is a certain place called Ramanathapuram.
However, it could also be your hometown, my hometown, my house, your house. So it is, is a gesture that shows place.
You'll also see me do this (Sloka demonstrates), which is a gesture for a king.So again, this is a gesture for a king.
And in this particular verse, the poet is requesting goddess who can be shown in this way or in this way to bless the king who rules over Ramanathapuram (Sloka demonstrates).
Sloka performs a piece from a thillana
So, this brings me to the end of today's episode. I hope I was able to give a short glimpse into movement in Bharatanatyam, and movement in our brains. Specifically, we talked about three things. We saw a little bit of the kinds of movements that we use in Bharatanatyam. We saw the complexity of movement, the parts of the brain that are involved in making movement possible: planning, initiation, sustaining movement, and then terminating movement. And then lastly, we saw that the brain meaning to movement, and this is really what shapes our reality, the reality of people around us.
I hope you enjoy today's episode. Of course, I would like to thank my gurus Maheshwari Amma, Nagarajan Sir, Vanitha didi, as well as Jayan Sir, not just for today's episode, but for this entire series and really for my entire artistic journey. They've always, maintained and shown through example that it's amazing to do dance on stage, it's beautiful, it's really uplifting, but if we let it, dance can really permeate and really make our lives beautiful. It can make our existence beautiful.
I would love to hear from you. What do you think about this topic of movement in the brain and movement in dance? Are there some kinds of movement that are really automatic to you? And what do you think is happening in the brain while movements are becoming automatic?
I hope again, that you enjoyed today's episode. Next month I will take another aspect of Bharatanatyam, and then talk about its neuroscientific basis.
In the meantime, if you want to reach out, please reach out to me at www.slokaiyengar.net.
And I hope to see you next month. Thank you!