The brothers Ponniah, Chinnaiah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu are associated with which classical dance form of India?

Option 2 : Bharatanatyam

The correct answer is Bharatanatyam.

• Bharatanatyam
  • Bharatanatyam is a dance form of Tamil Nadu in southern India.
  • It has grown out of the art of dancers dedicated to temples.
  • It was earlier known as Sadir or Dasi Attam.
  • It is the first of India's traditional dances to be refashioned by a theatre artist and to be exhibited widely both at home and abroad.
  • Bharatanatyam rests on principles of performance and aesthetics set down in classics such as Bharata's Natyashastra.
  • It has a rich repertoire of songs in Telugu, Tamil, and Sanskrit.
  • The present-day format of a Bharatanatyam recital, as well as a valuable part of its musical compositions, were created by the famed ‘Tanjore Quartet’ of the nineteenth-century brothers Ponniah, Chinnaiah, Sivanandam and Vadivelu.
  • Bharatanatyam has a highly evolved language of Nritta, abstract dance.
  • The themes have a wide range spanning human and divine love.
  • They are generally classed under the rubric of shringara (romantic love) and Bhakti (devotion).
  • The music of Bharatanatyam belongs to the Carnatic system of southern India.
  • The musicians accompanying a dance recital include at least one vocalist, a Mridangam (drum)-player, a flutist or violinist, or Veena (lute)-player. 
  • The group also includes a Nattuvanar, or dance conductor, who recites the dance syllables as he plays a pair of small bronze cymbals.