I am amazed at the precision and details given in the second chapter of Natya Shastra. There are detailed specifications for building the play houses. The measurements in building these play houses are given very precisely. I am not going into too many details as it is practically difficult to follow everything today.
Three types of play houses are mentioned. Very big play houses are meant for Gods, medium ones for royal personages and the small ones for ordinary people. Very big ones are not preferred, as the dancers lose their individuality. Also, Abhinaya portrayed by dancers will not have the needed reach and effect with the viewers.
How to build a play house suited for human activity? Brahma describes in detail. First step is to examine and measure the site, where the play house needs to be constructed. Next, the soil on which the play house has to be erected should be plain, firm, hard and black or white. Then, the ground should be cleared neatly by ploughing and removing unwanted things from the soil. We will talk about details regarding measurements in my next post.
We were talking about student-teacher relationship in our previous post. The student , especially the parents should believe that the music or dance learnt is great. Long term commitment is more important than talent itself. Do not always get carried away by others' opinions. Think twice before changing the teacher. Don't act or decide in anger or in a bad mood. Wait until you can think straight.
Do not argue with the child that the teacher is always right. Explain the problem in a way they can understand. Just like them, the teacher will also commit mistakes sometimes. So, the parent should make the child understand and accept the teacher's mistake. Long term relationship is very important with the teacher. The child should be able to accept the teacher just like his or her parents.
I spoke about Odissi dance in one of my previous posts. Recently, the 10th death anniversary of the great obissi legend Kelucharan Mohapatra was celebrated in Bhuvaneswar, Orissa. Most of the odissi dancers and dance gurus today were his students. I had the opportunity long back to watch him live on stage along with his senior students. I still remember him on stage, whose movements were beyond perfection.
See you all next week.
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