The Mirror of Gesture is an English translation of the Sanskrit text on dance, Abhinaya Darpana by Nandikeshvara, an exponent of theatre in ancient India. It is an abridged version of Bharatarnava, which is an exposition of classical Indian dance. This treatise is based upon the principles of Indian theatre: natya, nritya, and nritya sastras. Abhinaya Darpana contains 4,000 slokas and an exposition of classical Indian dance, theatre, and music. The date of this treatise goes back to the fifth and fourth centuries BC. It was Nandikeshwara, who had much influence on popular dance exponents, such as Bharatamuni, the author of Natyashastra (second century BC), and Matangamuni, the author of Brihadeshi (fifth century BC). In this English translation, forms of posture used in Indian dance and theatre, such as head movements, mudras made by hands along with its interpretation, invocation to nine planets in the universe, veneration of ten Vishnu's incarnations, four castes, upper and lower worlds, and living and non-living beings on Earth are dis- cussed. This book will benefit scholars and researchers interested in Indian theatre, art, and dance.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (22 August 1877-9 September 1947) is a Ceylon-based metaphysician, historian, theorist, and philosopher of Indian art. He brought the Indian tradition of art into the western world. He was also seen as the bridge-maker between western and Indian art and philosophy, as he was much inspired by Hindu and Greco-Roman traditions. His works were influenced by the Traditionalist and Perennial Schools of Philosophy. He authored several books which were based on the traditional arts, metaphysics, and social criticism. He was also the curator of Indian art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
Gopala Kristnayya (Krishnayya) Duggirala (2 June 1889-10 June 1928) was a freedom fighter and a member of the Indian National Congress and later, Swarajya Party from Andhra Pradesh. He was a poet, speaker, songwriter, philosopher, and singer. He was influenced by Annie Besant's Home Rule Movement and led an anti-tax agitation at Chirala and formed Rama Dandu for the cause of Swaraj. He was a polyglot and also set up a literary society Andhra Vidya Peetha Gosthi.
MR. GORDON CRAIG, who understands so well the noble artificiality of Indian dramatic technique, has frequently asked me for more detailed information than is yet available in this too long neglected field.
"If there are books of technical instruction," writes Mr. Gordon Craig, "tell them to me I pray you. The day may come when I could afford to have one or two translated for my own private study and assistance. I dread (seeing what it has already done in other arts here) the influence of the finished article of the East; but I crave the instruction of the instructors of the East. The disastrous effect the Chinese porcelain and the Japanese print has had on us in painting we must try to avoid in this theatre art.... You know how I reverence and love with all my best the miracles of your land, but I dread for my men lest they go blind suddenly attempting to see God's face. You know well what I mean, I think. So I want to cautiously open this precious and dangerous (only to us queer folk) book of technical instruction before the men go crazy over the lovely dancers of the King of Cambodia, before the 'quaintness tickles them, before they see a short cut to a sensation. If only you knew how unwilling these men of the theatre (most of all those dissatisfied with the old sloppy order) were to face the odds, and how they long to escape obligations (your phrase in 'Sati') you would almost make a yearly tour of England crying 'Shun the East and the mysteries of the East'."1
While we still lack a complete and adequate translation, and even a satisfactory edition, of the "Dramatic Science" (Natya Sastra) of Bharata, the present version of a shorter compendium known as the "Mirror of Gesture" (Abhinaya Darpana) of Nandikesvara may be of use as an introduction to Indian method.
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