Somaesthetics and Dance

The Convergence of Bharatanatyam and Yoga in Kundalini Pattu

Authors

  • Pooja Sunil Postgraduate Researcher in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli
  • Vinod Balakrishnan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54337/ojs.jos.v10i2.8511

Abstract

This paper performs a Somaesthetic evaluation of Kundalini Pattu: A Dance-Yoga, a dance performance portraying the spirit of Kundalini as creation of life and life forces after death. The discussion laid out in three sections uses Shusterman’s philosophy of Analytic, Pragmatic and Practical somaesthetics to evaluate the two performances of this choreography, one featuring Guru Reshmi Narayanan and the other her students. The study attempts to establish the disciplining of the soma as a necessary condition for the attainment of aesthetic perfection in Bharatanatyam, the South Indian classical dance tradition.

Keywords: Somaesthetics, Dance, Bharatanatyam, Yoga, Kundalini

Author Biography

Vinod Balakrishnan

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

National Institute of Technology

Tiruchirappalli: 620015

Tamilnadu

INDIA

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Published

13-05-2025