Three Forms of Abhinaya

Natya, Nritta and Nritya are the three forms of Abhinaya

   (a)    Natya or dance drama contains dialogue, interpretation of moods and mime, music and decor. It covers all the four planes and causes a blend of aesthetic and physical appeal. Only when the subconscious participation in the drama has been evoked can natya be said to fulfill its rightful purpose.
                       
  (b)    Nritta belongs to the realm of angik abhinaya alone and is thus on the divine plane. It is a rigid stylization consisting of pure dance movements evoking neither mood nor sentiment.   
                                             
  (c)    Nritya is a combination of both rasa or sentiment and bhava or mood. It is that which produces aesthetic delight in dance drama. It embraces the sattwik, Angus and to a lesser extent the aharya abhinaya on the astral, divine and visual planes. The three chief features of nritya are the Sattwik abhinaya, the Angik abhinaya and the Aharya abhinaya.

Sattwik Abhinaya

The Sattwik Abhinaya consists of two elements complementary to each other. They are the Rasa or emotional flavors and the Bhava or the mood to suit a particular emotion. Rasa is the primary and most important requirement of nritya which may be interpreted as emotional flavors or sentiment. The artist must seek to arouse this ecstasy  in the spectators so that his emotions and theirs may fuse and become attuned  to the spirit  of the drama.

Bhava is the secondary and complementary features. Bhavas may be of four kinds.

(a) Vibhava, which is again sub divided in to abalambanam and its accessory Udipan. Love in the Radha Krishna dance may be expressed through the former, while the latter helps the mood with the external aid of a moonlight setting.

(b) Anubhava expresses the effect of a mood such as the ravages of anger or sorrow, or the rapture of love.

(c) Vyavicharibhava pertains to the temporary changes of settings to fit in with the mood of particular scene.

(d)  Sattwikbhava consists of eight standardized movement to express such emotions as joy, fear or disgust.

The main difference between the rasa and bhava is that while rasa depends purely on imaginative transfiguration, bhava is earthier for it is concerned with creating a mood through physical media. Rasas express the beginning of a sentiment while bhavas complete or round it off either through the agency of mana; the brain or of the sharira; the body or through an action such as the throwing of a stone.  Every rasa has its accompanying bhava. There are nine rasas with an equal number of complementary moods