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In this clip, I'm going to explain a little bit about the music that accompanies the dance
in Carnatic music, which is the South Indian music that comes from this part of India.
Rhythm is a very important part of the musical structure. And the dance is considered to
be a visualization of the music and so the dancer's actually considered a musician because
she wears bells on her ankles. And all of the compositions are done in a rhythmic cycle
called the talam and in the short piece that we're going to demonstrate it's in a four
beat cycle which should be counted one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. For as
the dance is being performed, this cycling four beats is going to be continuing throughout
and the dancer has to make sure she's completely and totally in time with the drummer and the
natyvanara or the dance master.