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To put it simply, Jati swaram
means Nriththam. Nriththam would mean a mixture of
korvais, without the use of abhinaya. (For an explanation of the term korvai, see
Legs and their positions in Bharata Natya and abhinayam, see
Abhinayam).
 This is known as Jati swaram because it was a standard practice in olden days to dance to the recitation of
jatis (or ‘sol kattu’ - see
Bharatam the performing
art) and swaram. But in these days, artistes perform
korvais to the recitation of swaram. Similarly, the artistes of those days performed
‘mey adavau’
before jati
swaram. The jati
swaram is performed only before thillana these days. However, there are a few who do still perform
‘mey adavu’ before
jati
swaram. The word ‘mey’ in Tamil means ‘body’.
‘Mey adavu’ therefore means performing all kinds of twists, turns and sways and dancing, in all the three speeds.
Jati swaram may consist of swaras
in a single raga or a mixture of many ragas - raga
malika. The first korvai would consist of easy
adavus and would last for a short time. The second korvai would be a bit longer and would comprise a little more difficult
adavus. The length of time and the intricacy of each adavu would increase progressively. Approximately five or six
korvais
would comprise one jati
swaram. If it is a raga malika, it would consist of five or six ragas, that is to say, one raga per
korvai.
Like alaarippu (of which we discussed in
Alaarippu) many do not perform the
jati swaram on stage, these days. It is taught as a matter of routine in the dance schools. The total duration of a performance does not last more than 1 or 1½ hours and time is the main constraint that does not enable its performance.
Krishangini - Neeraja Nagarajan
Posture by Neeraja Nagarajan
Translated by Hari Krishnan
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