Indian Classical Dance

Stuti Aga dance company, based in Zurich Switzerland, provides classes, workshops and performances in BharataNatyam Fusion dance form.

BharataNatyam

The Pandanallur style is a style of Bharatanatyam Indian dance. It is mainly attributed to Minakshisundaram Pillai (1869–1964), a dance guru who lived in the village of Pandanallur, in the Thanjavur district in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu
The Pandanallur style developed a reputation for the emphasis on linear geometry that can be found in the adavu technique, and for its intensity and understatement in abhinaya.
The Pandanallur style is renowned for its choreography, which include such highly regarded pieces as the Nine or Ten Tanjore Quartet pada-varnams (Sakiye, Sami Ninne, Mogamana, Danike, Adimogam, Yemanthayanara, Yemaguva, Sami Nee Ramanave, Sarasijanaba). These works featured choreography by Pillai, who named the dramatic choreography “hands,” and was also responsible for the adavu choreography for the swara passages.
Part of their heritage is the valuable jatiswarams (in ragams Vasantha, Saveri, Chakravakam, Kalyani, Bhairavi), which incorporate abstract adavu choreography.
Pandanallur style gives a lot of importance to abinayaha. Moreover, stamping the foot hard against the floor is discouraged in this style. Instead, slow movements are used to make the salangai give out a lot of noise.