Classical Dance in India – Nine Emotions (Navarasa) - Raja Reddy

In the Indian performing arts, a rasa is a sentiment, mood or emotion evoked in members of the audience by the art. The rasa theory forms the aesthetic underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as Bharatanatyam and Kathakali (see foregoing videos). The theory, derived from Bharata Muni’s Natya Shastra, the foundational treatise for classical dances of India, discusses eight primary rasas. A ninth rasa was added by later authors between the sixth and the tenth centuries, which led to the