Dances of India

Inidan classical dances

Here comes my second post on the intro about the famous Indian classical dance formsJ

 India is a land of cultures and the best part is that these dance forms is that they show the culture of India to the world. For e.g.: The dance depicts history, characters, arts, tradition,mythology etc. The main aspect of Indian dance is its soothing music. As we all are aware that there is no dance without music, and a good music will always highlight a dance. There is no doubt is saying that the reason for Indian dance form to be so famous is its music. Every word and every instrument that is used touches the heart and soul. That is the reason people from every corner of the world get inspired by Indian classical dance and there are many people who come to India and learn the dance forms. Also the Dance is getting famous all over the world. Earlier it was just considered to be a hobby for most of them but the time has changed. Many people have their main profession as dance and they are flourishing to the maximum extent. They go on stage performances throughout the world, they teach the dance form in different countries.

 Nataraja is considered to be the “lord of dance”. Nataraja or Nataraj, the dancing form of Lord Shiva is a symbolic synthesis of the most important aspect of this Vedic religion.

Let us have a look at the famous dance forms of India

1)      Kuchipudi – Kuchipudi is a dance of Andhra Pradesh. This dance form has got its name from a famous village called kuchipudi. Kuchipudi is a popular dance tradition of south India.

2)      Bharatanatyam – Bharatanatyam is  considered as one of the oldest dance forms of India. It called as the mother of all classical dance forms of India. Bharatanatyam is popular in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

3)      Kathakali – Kathakali is the dance of Kerala. It is a very attractive dance drama performed by the artists. The speciality of this dance form is its colourful makeup, dresses and gestures which are very unique.

4)      Mohiniattam – Kerala is the only state that has two famous classical dances. One being kathakali and the other is Mohiniattam. This dance form is performed only by ladies and it is known for slow and subtle movements that give pleasure and peace while watching.

5)      Kathak – Kathak is one of the most famous classical dances of India. It is the dance of Northern part of India and the work kathak is derived from a Sanskrit word called “katha” which means story telling.

6)      Odissi – As the name tells this dance form is from Orissa. This dance form is highly traditional and has an ancient style. The state of Orissa has a great cultural history which is usually depicted in the dance of Odissi.

7)      Manipuri – Manipuri is a dance of North eastern states of India. Manipuri dance is highly ritualistic and mostly based on the themes of Radha and Krishna.

8)      Sattriya – Sattriya is a dance tradition of Assam and considered to be one of the major classical dance forms of India.

Apart from these Classical dances there are other famous tribal and other regional classical dance about which I will mention in my later posts.

These were just the introduction about the dance forms. We will have a look at each of the dance forms in details. J

Last but not the least Keep smiling and most importantly keep dancing. J J