Semiotica 190–1/4 (2012), 111 – 131 0037–1998/12/0190–0111 DOI 10.1515/sem-2012-0042 © Walter de Gruyter Na ¯ t · ya, rasa, and abhinaya as semiotic principles in Classical Indian dance MYTHILI ANOOP Abstract The concepts of nāṭya, rasa, and abhinaya that were proposed in the context of Classical Indian theatre are invoked by the practitioners and scholars of clas- sical Indian dance even today. They acknowledge and bestow a special status to theatrical communication. The demarcation of the aesthetic function is also one of the premises in the Prague School structural-semiotic theory. We shall examine the inter-relations between the semiotics of theatre elaborated by Keir Elam, and the conceptual base of classical Indian dance. By reading the Indian concepts through the perspectives of modern semiotics, we attempt to show that although the two theories belong to different traditions of scholarship, there are sites of conceptual convergence. Keywords: semiotics; theatre; Indian aesthetics; Indian dance In dance, all movement is read as signifcant. The “accidental” or “casual” may be a deliberate gesture or may be interpreted as such. To quote Suzanne Langer, in dance all motion is gesture, or at least, the frame and foil of gesture: “Gesture is the basic abstraction whereby the dance illusion is made and organized” (Langer 1983 [1953]: 28). We cannot say conclusively that all movement is dance is deliberate, pre-planned or even self-conscious, as a small part of it is constituted by involuntary acts. Most “art” forms of dance that emphasize long-drawn and rigorous training procedures to imbibe the code with precision seem to suggest that a major part of movements in dance pre- scribes to a pre-established code. From the perspective of the audience, one can say conclusively that all motion is taken as meaningful. In other words, an interpretive turn marks the departure of the dance movement from movement in most other contexts. This is precisely where a semiotic perspective proves to be fruitful, since in the light of semiotics dance can be treated as a complex of dynamic signs and symbols. Authenticated | mythilianoop@gmail.com author's copy Download Date | 5/8/13 11:42 AM