Bhaumi Chari is earth-bound movements in Hindu classical dance. Charis or Caris, in Hindu classical dance, constitute various movements of feet, claves, thighs and hips performed in unison. A chari is defined as the movement of a single foot, followed by the movement of the body. There are 32 different kinds of charis used in the classical dance repertoire. Sixteen are Bhaumi caris (earth bound) and the others are akasiki charis (space bound).
The Bhaumi Cari are used as a source to develop other dance
movements, apart from being used in scenes of combat and fights. The akasiki
chari (s) are used by characters to depict movements that release missiles or
weapons.
Abhinayadarpana, authored by Nandikeshwara, enumerates eight
kinds of cari (s) and describes them as graceful movements of the limbs,
without making a distinction between the earthly and aerial charis.
Natyashastra discusses the differences between Bhaumi and akasiki cari in great
detail. Both cari (s) are used in nritta (pure abstract dance) and nritya
(expressive representational dance).
Some of the Bhaumi charis are
Sampada, in which both feet are close together while the
dancer stands at one spot.
Casagati is movement of the right foot forward. After it is
drawn back, the left foot is also drawn back and put forward.
Vicyava is separating the feet from sampada position and
striking the ground with their forepart.
Addita is when one-foot rubs against the fore part or back
of another foot.