Kalinga Narthana Alarippu | Bharatanatyam | Online Dance Fellowship

Inspired by the pure nritta of the traditional Alarippu and the beauty of the dance of Kalinga Narthana Krishna, comes to life Kalinga Narthana Alarippu. Alarippu is a traditional invocation piece of a Bharatanatyam repertoire, with pure rhythmic dance movements. This is one of the first items that a lot of young students of bharatanatyam learn and perform. This makes it very special since all of them will be able to connect to this performance. One of the most popular stories of little Krishna is the episode of Kaliya Mardana. The powerful and poisonous serpent Kaliya (also called Kalinga) wrapped himself around Krishna but Krishna rose up from the bottom of river Yamuna dancing on the head of Kaliya and subduing him. The Kalinga Narthana Alarippu combines the intricate and fast paced alarippu with the beautiful dance of the young Krishna on the hoods of Kaliya. It is set to the beats of tisra alarippu. The dancers showcase the dance movements, and characteristic eyes and neck movements of Alarippu, wea