Nritya

Nritya (IAST: Nṛitya, नृत्य), also referred to as Nrit, Nritta, Natana or Natya, refers to "dance, act on the stage, act, gesticulate, play" in the Indian traditions. It is sometimes sub-divided into two forms: nritta or pure dance, wherein expression-less movements of a dancer play out the rhythms and phrases of the music; and nritya or expressive dance, wherein the dancer includes facial expression and body language to portray mood and ideas with the rhythmic movements to communicate with the audience.

Nritya is broadly categorized as one of three parts of Sangita, the other two being gita (vocal music, song) and vadya (instrumental music). These ideas appear in the Vedic literature of Hinduism such as in the Aitareya Brahmana, and in early post-Vedic era Sanskrit texts such as the Natya Shastra, Panchatantra, Malvikagnimitra and Kathasaritsagara.

Nritya and Nata appears in Vedic era literature. For example, section 4.104 of Unadi Sutras mention Nata as "dancer, mime, actor". Panini too mentions the terms Nritya and Nartaka respectively as dance and dancer, in his treatise on Sanskrit grammar.

It is the spirit of both eternity and time.
It is the spirit of both man and woman.
It is the Purusha and Prakriti,
expression of the evolution of the movement,
a truly creative force that has come down to us from ages.
This embodiment of sound and rhythm,
which creates poetry of spiritual expression
is called dance or nritya.

The term Nritya appears in all major classical Indian dance forms as one form of their repertoire, inspired by the guidelines of the Natya Shastra. These are Nritta, Nritya and Natya:

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