Mudragraphy, the Art of Dancing Exclusively with Hands

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An article by TITHI DAS, Odissi Practitioner, Dance Experimenter

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THIS ARTICLE LUCIDLY EXPLAINS THAT WE CAN EXPRESS EMOTIONS AND FEELINGS BY USING ONLY OUR HANDS. HANDS CAN INDEPENDENTLY CONVEY AN IDEA OR A THOUGHT TO THE VIEWERS IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE LYRICS OF A SONG.

[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]EDITOR’S STATEMENT: The author, Tithi Das, is an accomplished young Odissi dancer from Kolkata, in the Indian state of West Bengal, who started learning this prominent Indian classical dance form from the eminent dance guru, Giridhari Nayak. Tithi is a National Scholarship Holder from the Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, Ministry of Culture, Government of India; and a Graded Artist of the Ministry’s Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre. She completed the Bhaskar Examination from the Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, securing 3rd position in the Eastern Zone.

She won the 1st position both in the Paschimbanga Rajya Chatra Yuva Utsav at the district and state levels in 2018, and the global competition organized by Bharat Sanskriti Utsav in 2019; and was the 2nd runner-up at the state-level competition organized by Rajya Sangeet Academy, Government of West Bengal in 2019. Her notable online performances include the Dance & Music Festival (Phase-II) organized by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre in 2020 and 2021; ‘Shivam’ organized by The Lasya, powered by Book My Show in 2021; Damru Ninad’s Nrityachana; and Sangamam – India’s leading cultural dance fest organized by The Lasya, Chennai in 2020.

Tithi has performed in many prestigious performing arts festivals and events, including the Bharat Sanskriti Utsav International Festival of Indian Art & Culture; Dance Festival of India 2019, organized by Banichakra at Bangkok, Thailand; the Cuttack Baliyatra Festival; Nritya Rang Festival of Music and Dance,2019 organized by Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre, Ministry of Culture; and the International Odissi Dance Festival 2018 organized by the Guru Kelu Charan Mohapatra Odissi Research Centre (GKCMORC), Odisha Tourism and Odia Language, Literature & Culture And Tourism. She has also participated in workshops conducted by celebrated artistes, such as Smt. Sujata Mohapatra, Shri Ratikant Mohapatra, Smt. Aloka Kanungo and Shri Giridhari Nayak.

Tithi is currently pursuing her Honors in Food and Nutrition from the University of Calcutta.[/vc_column_text][vc_separator css=”.vc_custom_1623121014639{padding-top: 3% !important;padding-bottom: 3% !important;}”][vc_column_text]Many of us love the art of dance. It can be our happiness, our love and even our way of living. Any form of dance is a simple, yet beautiful combination of foot works, expressions, hand movements, postures and gestures. All these together make a dance complete.

In ‘Indian Classical Dance’, we have to maintain different elements of dance like expressions, foot works, bhangi, postures and last but not the least, the ‘Hasta Mudras’.

‘Hasta Mudras’ or ‘Mudras’ are basically hand gestures we generally use to denote, imitate, show or address, and so on. ‘Hasta’ means “hand” and ‘Mudra’ means “seal”, “mark”, or “gesture”. Basically ‘Hasta Mudras’ are gestures performed through hands to convey various feelings or to present a meaningful scenario. Mudra is a basic mode of communication through hand gestures.

There is two type of Hasta Mudras:

• Samyukta – One hand gestures
• Asamyukta – Double hand gestures

So, there is a simple question that arises. Can we actually Dance and Express it all with our hands alone?

The answer is ‘Yes, we definitely can’.

In the year 2020, the entire world was under lockdown due to COVID-19 and we were going through an extremely hard time. During this time, I was mentally disturbed because the lockdown was not only affecting my studies but also I was unable to practice my dance properly as I didn’t have enough space in my house nor was I able to perform anywhere.

So, one midnight, I was recalling one of my dance performances and questioning myself: ‘Why should the lack of space to practice stop someone like me for whom dance is much more than just a hobby, from dancing?’.

Suddenly, ‘Mudras’ came to my mind. ‘Can’t we dance with only our hands?’, I asked myself.

On May 15, 2020, I started expressing my love for dance through my hands only using ‘Hasta Mudras’. I gave it the name “MUDRAGRAPHY”.

The word “MUDRA” means ‘hand gestures’ and “GRAPH” means ‘to compose ‘or ‘to arrange’. In Mudragraphy I compose the ‘Mudras’ according to the lyrics of the song, using Indian Classical Dance Mudras just like a regular dance choreography.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1623121948373{padding-top: 3% !important;}”][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”11647″ img_size=”400×500″][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]

TITHI’S ‘MUDRAGRAPHY’ PERFORMANCES

Fagun Haway Haway, Rabindra Sangeet
Watch the video…

Chhod Denge
Watch the video…

Kaun Hain Woh
Watch the video…

Bela Bose
Watch the video…

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner css=”.vc_custom_1623123960424{padding-top: 3% !important;}”][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text]According to me, we can exclusively use our hands to express emotions and feelings. Our hands are equally eligible to convey an idea, thought or feeling to the viewers in conjunction with the lyrics of a song.

“In the Western Culture, ‘tutting’ or ‘finger tutting’ is a type of dance that involves the intricate angular movements of fingers. It’s quite famous all over the world. With this inspiration, I came up with the idea of ‘Mudragraphy’.”

For Mudragraphy, there are some requirements that you need to know.

• Firstly, you have to know both the Samyukta and Asamyukta Mudras
• Secondly, you have to do finger exercises to bring flexibility
• Thirdly and most importantly, ‘Practice’. Practice is what will sharpen your Mudras and make them finer

Mudragraphy is the most meaningful language to express one’s emotions and feelings through the use of ONLY hands![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_column_text]

TITHI’S SELECT DANCE VIDEOS

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