Set 1 | Important Indian Dance forms MCQs

Correct Answer is A.

• Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra, known as the fifth veda, is the oldest surviving text on stagecraft in the world and is the source of the art of drama, dance and music.
• Natyashastra has evolved by taking words from Rigveda, music from Samveda, gestures from the yajurveda and emotions from the Atharvaveda.
• There is also a legend that Brahma himself wrote Natyaveda.
• India has a rich tradition of classical and non-classical dances.

Correct Answer is A, B & C.

• Natya highlights the dramatic element and most dance forms do not give emphasis to this aspect today with the exception of dance-drama forms like Kathakali.
• Nritya is essentially expressional, performed specifically to convey the meaning of a theme or idea.
• Nritta is pure dance where body movements do not express any mood, nor do they convey any meaning.

Correct Answer is A.

• To present Nritya and Natya effectively, a dancer has to communicate the navarasas.
• These are love(shringaara), mirth(haasya), compassion(karuna), valour(veera), anger(roudra), fear(bhayanak), disgust(bibhatsa), wonder(adbhuta) and peace(shaanta).
• In all styles of dances, there are elements of Tandava and Lasya.

Correct Answer is A.

• Natyadharmi is the formalised presentation of theatre.
• Natyadharmi is an aspect of natya which is a mode of presentation.
• There is another aspect that is Lokadharmi which is sometimes translated as folk, realistic, naturalistic or regional presentation of theatre.

Correct Answer is B.

• Bharatnatyam is found in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
• This dance is considered to be over 2000 years old.
• The style of the dance was kept alive by devadasis, who used to perform music and dance as offerings to the deities in the temple courtyards.
• Main texts which provide information about this dance is the Bharat Muni’s Natyashastra(around 200 BCE to 200 CE) and the Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikesvara.
• This dance is known to be ‘ekaharya’ where one dancer takes on many roles in a single performance.
• It is a solo dance.

Correct Answer is B.

• The revival of Bharatanatyam is credited to Rukmini Devi Arundale who raised this art to a puritan form.
• She founded the Kalakshetra in Adyar.
• The efforts of T. Balasaraswati also helped to uplift this art form to the present form.
• The well known Bharatanatyam dancers are Yamini Krishnamurthy, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Saroja Vaidyanathan, Janaki Rangarajan etc.

Correct Answer is C.

• Kathakali is one of the most notable dance forms of the Kerala.
• It is considered to be of comparatively recent origin.
• As an art, it has evolved from many social and religious theatrical forms which existed in the southern region of India in ancient times.
• It derives its textual sanction from Balarama Bharatam and Hastalakshana Deepika.
• Kathakali is also indebted to the early martial arts of Kerala for body movements and choreographical patterns.

Correct Answer is D.

• In no other dance style is the entire body used so completely as in Kathakali.
• The technical details cover every part of the body from facial muscles to fingers, eyes, hands and wrists.
• The facial muscles play an important part. The movement of the eyebrows, eyeballs and lower eyelids are not used to such an extent in any other dance style.

Correct Answer is A.

• Ilkiattam is that part of the performance when the characters get an opportunity to demonstrate their excellence in Abhinaya.
• For most part of the performance, the dancers engage themselves in chodiattam which means acting in stict conformity to the words in the padams sung by the accompanying musicians.

Correct Answer is A.

• Vallathol is credited with revitalising the Kathakali dance of Kerala.
• The famous artist of Kathakali are Kalamandalam Krishna Prasad, Kalamandalam Kesavan Namboodiri, Kalamandalam Gopi etc.