The names of Indian dance can seem intimidating, but they're clearer when you break them down. Take the female dance form Bharatanatyam, for example: it's a long string of letters, but that's because its syllables describe all four of the classical form's major elements. "Bha" is short for bhava, or emotion, in Sanskrit. "Ra" stands for raga: music. "Ta" means rhythm, or taala. And natyam's easy: dance. Put it all together and Bharatanatyam is emotional, rhythmic, musical movement. Local dance artist Ramya Kapadia has studied the form since her childhood in Maharashtra. This evening of dance with Seema Avil is based on the common Indian saying of the title. It means "I bow to my mother," a phrase that reminds us, according to Kapadia, that "whatever our creed, we belong to the earth first." The music is by Rajiv Sundaresan, Embar Kannan, and Aditya Sharma.
