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Why are acting and dance traditionally inseparable in South Asian performance?

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Watch and hear a person playing the mridangam drum of the Carnatic music tradition — South Asian arts The *mridangam*, the principal drum of the Carnatic music tradition.

In South Asian performance, acting and dance are traditionally inseparable because they share a common foundation in the Natya-shastra, a 2,000-year-old Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy that governs the aesthetics and gesture language of both disciplines. In this tradition, the Sanskrit word nata refers to a "dancer-actor," reflecting the expectation that a performer must simultaneously be a dancer, singer, and mime.1

The integration of these arts is defined by three core components:
* Natya: The dramatic element, involving the imitation of character.2
* Nritya: Interpretive dance, which uses facial expressions and hand gestures to portray mood.12
* Nritta: Pure dance, consisting of rhythmic, decorative movements.12

Performers utilize a sophisticated system of abhinaya (histrionic representation) to communicate meaning, which includes stylized body movements, complex hand gestures known as mudras, and facial expressions. Because the goal of these performances is to evoke a specific rasa (an exalted sentiment or mood) in the spectator, the performer must master both the physical precision of dance and the narrative depth of acting to successfully convey complex emotions and stories.32