1 As the Lord of Dance, Nataraja, Shiva performs the tandava, the dance in which the universe is created, maintained, and dissolved. 2  Shiva's long, matted tresses, usually piled up in a knot, loosen during the dance and crash into the heavenly bodies, knocking them off course or destroying them utterly.aṭarāja in Sanskrit (नटराज) means Lord of dance. The word is also used in Telugu,Tamil,Kannada, Malayalam. Koothan is derived from the Tamil word Koothu, which means dance or performance. A male dancer is termed Koothan.