Product Details

• Actors: David Morrison
• Directors: Padma Chebrolu
• Format: Color, Full Screen, NTSC
• Number of tapes: 1
• VHS Release Date: November 7, 2000
• Run Time: 60 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000540AQ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,757 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

55 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Basics in a nutshell - celebrating the commercial birth of the American "Bharatanatyam", May 23, 2006

By 

K. Palani (India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dances of India - Learning Bharata Natyam (DVD)

First of all, it was odd to read in the Product description that the author thinks that "Bharata Natyam as performed by hundreds of millions of Indians all over the world". In reality, less than 1 among 10000 Indians know even the basics of Bharatnatyam.

This DVD lets you watch 28 mudras, 20 hastas, 3 warm-up exercises (which is ridiculously inadequate), 8 head movements, 8 eye movements, 4 neck (stiff!) movements, 10 "poses", and 29 steps at 2 speeds. Considering that each DVD player can let you play the movie at half or quater speed, the whole idea of giving 2 speeds is foolish as there is no explanation of the different phases (and common errors) of the movements. The "guru" herself does not seem to realize the miriad of errors that she makes herself.

The cameraman was unaware of the difference between shooting a belly dancer and a Bharatanatyam dancer: very often the dancer's hands and feet in this DVD are cut out of the frame, and only the dancer's face and stomach are visible.

What surprised me most in "Dances of India - Learning Bharata Natyam" is the rather useless ("talking head" only) lenghthy introduction (7 minutes). All in all, nearly half of all the time in this DVD we see Padma Chebrolu's "talking head" - rather awkward for a "Bharatanatyam guru" too.

Don't expect to find anything useful in the "Costumes & Make-up" section. You can learn as much from here as from seeing 1 photo of a Bharatanatyam dancer.

The instructor, a full-time software engineer with an MBA, is well-aware of the inadequate quality of her demonstrations of something that is presented as "Bharata Natyam". If Tony Blair loses his job soon, he might well go to India and teach western ballet there. He will surely be better at it than P.Chebrolu at Bharata Natyam.

Anyone who knows how to search the Internet can find Bharata Natyam DVD trailers from Padma Chebrolu's "Learning Bharata Natyam" and see that it is no match for serious instructional Bharatnatyam DVDs like, for example, SriDevi Nrithyalaya's videos.

I bought this "Dances of India - Learning Bharata Natyam" DVD from Amazon out of curiosity, and now regret paying so much for another piece of junk.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LEARNING DANCES OF INDIA - VIA VIDEO, November 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Dances of India - Learning Bharata Natyam [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This is an excellent video. The quality is definitely a 5 stars. The instructor's method is easy to follow and understand.

This video will provide the people of India's culture a method for keeping their traditions alive throughout generations. Young as well as old, experienced as well as inexperienced, will be able to follow the instructions.

The instructor's method of sharing the connection of body, hand, and eye movements, helps the viewer understand the importance of each movement.

A welcome addition to the dance arena and more so, to the Culture of India.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Comparatively speaking, this is a pricey DVD - definitely not a bargain!, February 23, 2006

By 

Nimisha (London, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dances of India - Learning Bharata Natyam (DVD)

Among the educational Bharatnatyam DVDs, this one is the most expensive. Yes, the image quality is better than in, for example, the Drishya Bharatham DVDs, but what about the accuracy and precision of the technique, and clarity of explanations? Of course we cannot compare J.Suryanarayanamurthy, a Kalakshetra professor, with P.Chebrolu. So why P.Chebrolu's DVD should be 3 times more expensive than J.Suryanarayanamurthy's?

Instead of giving too many cultural introduction (we all can read books, and do not need lectures on DVDs!), P.Chebrolu should have given more time to actually show and explain the moves deeper.

Anyone who actually tries to learn anything with this DVD will end up with too many unanswered questions.